


Little White Lie

by cheyla



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Friends to Lovers, M/M, klaine endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-15
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-09 09:51:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 38
Words: 47,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4343900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheyla/pseuds/cheyla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blaine was expected to go to college, graduate, get married, and have a family. That's been the expectation since the day he was born. However, one little white lie can easily form an entire life full of lies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Video

As in any other circumstance when nearly one hundred kindergartners were in the same room, the cafeteria was complete chaos. There was running, there was screaming, there were temper tantrums, there was crying and there was whining. There was snot and tears and even vomit in a couple of cases.

However, off to one of the sides, in an area slightly separated from the rest of the cafeteria, none of that was going on. There was only a curly-headed brown-haired six-year-old, rolling slightly on the balls of his feet with a large grin on his face and a sharply dressed woman with the same brunette hair.

"So do you know what you're going to say on camera?" The woman asked the boy in a fond voice.

A small head nodded, making the dark brown curls bounce back and forth.

"I'm going to say…" the small boy trailed off and took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm Blaine Anderson and I want to be a photographer when I grow up. What do you think of that, mommy?"

His mother pursed her lips and her brow furrowed, but only for a second. Then her face slid back into its smooth, indifferent mask.

"Why don't you pick something else, sweetie," Blaine's mother bent down to fix his hair in a last minute attempt to fix his curls before he would go up and be filmed. They looked adorable but they were so messy looking. "Like a doctor or a lawyer. It sounds so much better than a photographer."

Blaine's face fell as his mother brushed his idea to the side, like she did with most of his other ideas. However, he forced a cheery smile on his face and nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay! I'll say I'm going to be a layer…law-er…" Blaine's face scrunched up in a cute manner as he tried to pronounce the word right. It was much more difficult than it seemed to be. His mother let out a small chuckle as she watched her son struggle with the pronunciation.

"Just say you want to be a doctor," she told him, smoothing his hair back one more time. Blaine nodded but it wasn't as pronounced as before.

"Alright," he agreed and took off towards the makeshift stage where the other kids were being filmed. There wasn't a large line, only seven or so kids, but it still took awhile before it was finally Blaine's turn. Each kindergartner in front of him seemed to stay longer in front of the camera. Multiple retakes were needed at times when a kid would break out into tears or forget what they were going to say. The parents and teachers looked very frazzled.

Finally it was Blaine Anderson's turn.

Blaine took a deep breath as he was given the go ahead and began to speak.

"My name is Blaine Anderson and when I grow up, I want to be a doctor," he recited perfectly, never faltering or stuttering. Then the camera was shut off and Blaine was free to go. His mother was waiting for him at the entrance.

"That was perfect, my little performer," she said, smiling. "Now let's go. We promised to meet your father for lunch."

That was that, in her opinion. An hour of waiting for thirty seconds on camera. Mother and son left the cafeteria, one eager to get away from the madness and the other with a pit of disappointment in his stomach. However, there was nothing that Blaine could do anymore. He had already been filmed and it was too late to go and get a retake. He couldn't have changed things even if it hadn't been too late. His mother didn't approve of him becoming a photographer. She expected him to be a doctor.

And that was that.


	2. The Party

"My name is Blaine Anderson and I want to be a doctor when I grow up."

Blaine winced slightly at the words that came out his five-year-old self's mouth on the television. It wasn't noticeable to those around him, but the wince was there. Once again, Blaine Anderson found himself why he had let his mother do this to him. It was embarrassing to have all of his extended family and friends watching his childhood from the day he was born up until yesterday, the day he had graduated high school.

Since he couldn't glare at his mother, Blaine glared at his two best friends, Wes and David, instead. They were completely unaffected by it and began to coo and sniffle theatrically in response to the glare. The brown-haired boy groaned quietly and set his head on the table, wishing for it to be over. He knew that this graduation party was a bad idea.

"So how's that plan coming along?" Blaine sat up straight at Cooper's voice. He looked up and pretended to shield his eyes from the whiteness of his brother's smile.

"Plan?" he questioned as the older brother took a seat.

"Yes, plan." Cooper replied, stretching out in the chair. "You know, the plan to become a doctor?"

Blaine flushed, partly out of embarrassment and partially out of frustration. Thirteen years later and that day still haunted him.

"You do realize that on average, a person will change careers seven times in their life?" he retorted. "I don't have to become one right away."

"That's an average person," Cooper waved off Blaine's retort easily. "You're not an average person. You're an Anderson."

"And Anderson's go to college, graduate with a high earning degree, get married, have a family, and live happily ever after," Blaine finished dully. It sounded like the perfect life but it was a life he was starting to imagine he would never have. His great-grandfather had started the tradition and since then, his grandfather, his great-uncles, and his father had all kept with tradition and managed to have the perfect life. His brother, Cooper Anderson, was going to be the next one on that list in just a few short years. Cooper was going into his fourth year at Brown University, preparing to graduate with a degree in economics and a minor in political sciences. Already he had the perfect internship set up that would lead to the perfect job.

"Cooper!" A pretty young woman across the room gestured for the taller Anderson child to come over and Cooper gave her a sign that he needed a few more minutes. Oh, and Cooper had the perfect girlfriend and soon-to-be-fiancée.

"Don't sound too thrilled about the Anderson life," Cooper commented dryly and clapped a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "And don't think about it too much. Just enjoy college. It's going to be the best time of your life. It'll be the perfect experience for you. I know it."

The taller man stood up and walked over to his girlfriend, whistling as he did so. Blaine closed his eyes and tried not to grit his teeth. Perfect. He hated that word. It only meant one thing. Pressure.

"You still haven't told any of them yet?" David asked as he and Wes approached the third member of their trio. They couldn't help but overhear the conversation between the two brothers from their spot at the next table.

Blaine let out a harsh laugh and reopened his hazel eyes.

"No. In case you haven't noticed, I'm supposed to make the perfect life for myself." Blaine practically spat out the word 'perfect'. He gestured to himself, saying, "What I am doesn't exactly figure into having that."

Wes hit his friend upside the head with a hand.

"Says who?" The Asian boy demanded, other hand on his hip. "Just tell them to screw themselves." David rolled his eyes at the comment while Blaine made sure that his hair hadn't been messed up by the whack.

"Easier said than done," Blaine replied. "Why haven't you told your parents that you don't want to join the family business?"

Wes glared at his smaller friend for bringing that into the conversation. He still had yet to find a way to break the news to his parents.

"I think what Wes meant," David intervened, "is that being perfect means something to different people. You can still have the perfect life you want, just with who you want and not who your parents want."

Blaine opened his mouth to disagree but was stopped by a call from his mother. Abruptly, he turned on his heel and walked away, starting to feel the irritation and frustration all over again. As he walked away, David and Wes let out simultaneous sighs.

"You two better kiss and make up before we leave tonight," David informed Wes. "We're not going off to college fighting."

"Yes, mom." Wes drawled, locking his hands behind his head and taking a seat in Cooper's vacant chair. "Although, I do maintain that he really should just tell everyone to go screw themselves. It would make things so much more easier."

"Blaine, Mrs. Linden was just telling me about her son that goes to Virginia Commonwealth," Mrs. Anderson informed her youngest son as he approached. "He's studying biology there."

Blaine smiled politely at his mother's friend.

"What are you planning on studying?" Mrs. Linden asked. Blaine's smile tightened slightly. He had been asked that questions so many times today and throughout the year that he was starting to get annoyed whenever he heard it. After all, a question could only be answered so many times before it got old.

"I'm not sure yet," he replied. "After all, there's so many choices that VCU offers."

"His father and I are hoping that he'll go with the pre-med program. After all, it looks wonderful and I think that he would do marvelous as a surgeon." Blaine's mother added. "Plus, we haven't had a doctor in the family for a while."

Blaine gave an embarrassed laugh at his mother's backhanded compliment. She had been saying that a lot throughout his high school years. It would be a dream come true for her if one of her sons became a doctor.

The rest of the party passed by quickly but in a slightly painful manner. Blaine tried to keep count of how many people he had talked to, how many of them asked where he was going and what he was studying, and how many times his parents had called him over so he could talk to one of their friends about his plans for the future. Needless to say, he quickly lost count. Oftentimes the three cases overlapped. At the end of the day, his cheeks hurt from forcing himself to smile too much.

"When are you leaving?" Wes popped up besides Blaine during one of the few times when Blaine wasn't discussing his plans for college.

"Classes don't start until late August but there's a summer orientation next week. We're choosing our classes for the fall then." Blaine replied in a dull tone that signified that he had been asked this question a lot as well. "The orientation starts on Monday so me and Dad are catching a plane on Sunday. After the orientation ends on Tuesday, we'll spend a day or two with Cooper before heading back."

"Are you excited to get out of boring old Ohio?"

Blaine had to stop and think for a minute.

"I think so? I don't really know. At least here I know what to expect. I don't know what to expect there. I don't know if I'm going to get those hell teachers that assign ten page papers due every week or if I'm going to get a class that gets cancelled every other day. I don't know what teacher to pick if there's multiple timeslots for a class. I don't know if I'll have a roommate that pulls all-nighters three times a week and procrastinates on homework or a roommate that makes me look like an underachiever. I—" Blaine was cut off by Wes placing a hand over his mouth and giving him a look that clearly said 'Shut up'.

"Relax. That's what summer orientation is for, right?" Blaine nodded reluctantly and Wesley removed his hand. "Just don't do what you always do and fall into a routine. Be someone outgoing for once in your life."

The hazel-eyed boy rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to college to graduate with a degree, Wes, not party it up."

"Did I say that you had to be a party animal like me? No, because no one can party it up like me. I'm just saying, don't continue being a creature of habit."

"I'm not a creature of habit," Blaine protested weakly. Wes raised an eyebrow and gestured David over.

"David, what time does Blaine get up on weekdays?" He asked their darker friend. David looked slightly confused but answered anyways.

"Six."

"What time does he get up on weekends?"

"Nine-thirty."

"When does he take a shower?"

"As soon as he gets up."

"What does he do as soon as his hair is dried?" Wes continued the interrogation and Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Gels it."

"What kind of candy does he eat when he watches movies?"

"Twizzlers."

"Sometimes they're Red Vines or Skittles," Blaine threw in, trying to prove Wes wrong.

"What kind of solitaire does he play?"

David grinned, starting to understand what Wes was doing.

"Klondike," he replied.

"It's the only kind I know how to play." The curly-haired boy explained.

"What's the brand of cereal he eats every single morning?"

"Rice Krispies, but if it's gone, he'll eat something else that is made by Kellogg's."

"What does he drink for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?"

"Skim milk and a medium drip, apple juice, and lemonade or water."

"Which direction does he turn every time he enters a store?"

"Does it matter?" Blaine cried.

"Left, even though most people turn to the right."

"What song did he always suggest the Warblers sing, even though we never did?"

"Blackbird."

"We're called the Warblers, the song is called Blackbird. It fits!"

"What side of the bed does he sleep on?"

"Whatever side is closest to the window."

"What side of the bed does he nap on?"

"Whatever one is closest to the door."

"I get it!" Blaine finally snapped. "I'm a creature of habit. I like my routines and I like sticking with things that I know are safe. I can't help it, though. It's just something I naturally do."

Wes and David grinned at him.

"I thought he would never pick up on it," Wes sniffled.

"Our little boy is so insightful," David chimed in. Blaine gave them a dull look through narrowed hazel eyes.

"I hate you both," he decided. His two friends just laughed.

"But seriously, don't be that guy that falls into a routine and shuts himself off from everything else." David said, suddenly serious and all business. "Don't be safe. Be brave for once."

Blaine made a face but said nothing.

"Anyways, we're going to get going. Lots of summer to enjoy." Wes winked at Blaine, who shook his head. Summer for Wes and David meant playing video games and going to the nearest pool to check out girls. The short teen turned to leave and see what he could do to help clean up but Wes stopped him one more time.

"I'm sorry about earlier."

Blaine looked over his shoulder and back at his longtime friend.

"It's okay. I'm sorry too," he responded before walking away again.

For the rest of the weekend and for most of the following week, Blaine found himself with a sore hand and bored out of his mind. His mother insisted that he hand wrote thank you cards to everyone that attended his graduation party and for everyone that had given him gifts. It was easy enough but when he took in the fact that there was over three hundred people on the list and his mother wanted a letter that was at least half a page, if not more…Yeah, his hand really hurt and he still hadn't gotten the taste of envelope out of his mouth and tongue.

David and Wes visited every other day, brightening things up a bit. They mainly hung out in Blaine's room, playing video games or at the park, playing on the swings. At night, Blaine would read the book Cooper had given him for graduation. 1001 Things Every College Student Should Know. It was interesting, it was entertaining, and it was slightly helpful. It eased some of Blaine's worries but it also brought new worries to the forefront of his mind. He wouldn't admit it, but the ones he found particularly helpful he would type up into a word document and save it onto the desktop of his Mac. He felt better doing so, as it felt like he was preparing himself for the next four years.

Sunday afternoon, a week and a day after his graduation party, Blaine found himself on a plane, touching down in Richmond, Virginia, ready for Virginia Commonwealth University's summer orientation.


	3. The Start

Upon seeing the signs directing Blaine and his father to one of the visitor parking lots at VCU, Blaine found it difficult to breathe. His grip tightened on the armrest. This was it. It was finally time for summer orientation, his first step to becoming an official college student.

Parking and registering was a breeze but Blaine was slightly surprised by how many students there were around, milling about on campus. He knew that this particular orientation date for the business department was also the orientation for other departments as well but he hadn't quite gotten the feel of just how many fellow first years would be attending.

Well, it was better than being alone.

Blaine followed his father quietly, only speaking when needed. He was normally quite an outgoing person, not afraid to make friends, but that was when he wasn't around his parents. When they were around, he just shut down. It was better to do what they expected and say what they wanted to hear instead of accidently saying or doing something they weren't quite ready for. For now, he let his father do the talking while he looked over the packet he had been given. The front of it read:

Blaine Anderson

Business

6/19/2012-6/20/2012

GRC II

Room 204

"Let's drop off your things and then make sure you have everything for your placement tests. Got your room number?"

Blaine looked up at his father. He gave the older man an easy smile and waved the packet slightly.

"Right here," he informed his father. "And I've got everything I need for the placement test. It's just math."

His father quirked an eyebrow.

"Just math? Let's hope your placement reflects how confident you're feeling. When was the last math class you took?"

Blaine resisted the urge to sigh. His heart gave a small pang as he realized his father probably didn't know what classes he had taken even in the past semester. All that mattered to the man was that he got the grades. As long as that happened, his father only had to worry about paying tuition and everything else for school.

"Second semester, junior year," he told his father. "AP Calculus."

"So you haven't taken a math class in a year?" Blaine bristled slightly.

"I'll be fine," he said in a stiff voice. "I still remember what I learned and I reviewed some at home. Believe me, I'll be fine."

His father didn't look too pleased at his son's tone but nothing more was said about the subject.

Blaine's room in GRC II was nice, as far as dorm rooms went. At least it was air-conditioned and carpeted, coming supplied with a fridge. A bathroom connected two rooms. Judging from the bag laying on one of the beds, Blaine's roommate for the night had already arrived. However, the other boy was nowhere in sight.

Blaine's father looked around the room with an approving expression on his face.

"Better than we had," he commented. "We had to share a bathroom with the entire floor, not just three other people."

Blaine placed his bag on the free bed, not responding. He never was sure how to respond to his father's stories about high school and college. It put the man in a totally different light. It was near impossible to picture his father as the party animal his stories made him out to be.

Unzipping the top of his duffle bag, Blaine pulled out a smaller bag with everything he needed for the placement test already inside. There was also a notebook and pen for him to take notes when he was in the sessions laid out in the schedule. He was sure that he would need it at some time during the orientation.

"Ready?" His father asked for a second time. Blaine nodded and the two men left.

The placement test was a breeze, just as Blaine knew it would be. Of course, he wouldn't be completely sure of how he had done until he registered for classes with his advisor. The schedule for his first couple of semesters was already basically laid out. He just had to decide what general classes he wanted to take.

"How was it?" another first year immediately asked him as he came out of the testing room. Blaine shrugged.

"Not bad. You?" he replied. The other boy groaned and tilted his head back. His blonde hair fell over his eyes.

"Torture," he muttered. "I hate math. I never understood why my parents wanted me to take calculus. I didn't understand it when I took the class and I definitely didn't remember any of it now."

Blaine gave a small smile.

"I can think of worse tortures," he said. "I don't mind math, though. At least the actual doing of the problems. I can't understand the theory behind it for the life of me."

The blonde boy smiled back at Blaine, lifting his head.

"That's the only part I did understand," he said. "I'm Thomas."

"Blaine." The two boys shook hands and Blaine took a seat beside the blonde-haired Thomas.

"So where do you hail from?" Thomas asked Blaine.

"Westerville, Ohio. You?"

"New York, New York." Of course. The accent was apparent in Thomas' voice. "I'm studying business. Are you doing the same?"

Blaine nodded.

"I figured a generic degree is best for now. Majoring in something specific narrows your choices down and I'm not quite sure what I want to do."

Thomas laughed.

"Who does? But business is a good choice. At least we won't end up on the streets in L.A., begging for jobs like them." Thomas jerked his head to the doorway. Outside the building, sitting on the grass was a group of people sitting in a circle, chatting. Blaine sent a questioning look at Thomas.

"They're the Fine Arts kids." The disdain was clear in the blonde's voice. "Theater, singing, dancing, the like. Can't get anywhere with a degree like that. They're all delusional."

The small smile on Blaine's face felt more forced now as Thomas kept on talking.

One of the members in the group stood up. His hands moved theatrically while he talked and circled the group. Even from just looking out the door, Blaine could see that the chestnut hair was perfectly coifed and the boy's pants were sinfully tight. He shifted awkwardly. Blaine tuned back into what the blonde sitting next to him was saying.

"I don't mind it when people sing alone or at karaoke bars or with family but singing in group to compete like it's a sport? It's just so weird. I don't see how any guy would willingly do it unless they were a fag. Right?"

Blaine was sure that his smile had turned into a grimace by now.

"Right," he replied. As soon as the word left his mouth, he wanted to shoot himself. "Thank goodness I was never one of those people."

Oh god…What was he doing?


	4. The Orientation

Hours later, after all the orientation sessions were done and over with, Blaine was still mentally kicking himself as he threw himself on the bed, face down. Why had he lied to Thomas about being in the Warblers? What on earth had possessed him?

The worse part about the whole situation was that after he had said that, Thomas seemed to believe that they were now friends. He had introduced Blaine to the few other people he had met, most of whom shared Thomas' opinions on everything. Just to feel like he fit in, Blaine had found himself agreeing to what the others were saying. Every time he did so, he had the urge to kick himself even harder. Thomas had somehow convinced Blaine to remain with them for the remainder of the day and had introduced Blaine's dad to his parents. Unsurprisingly, the two fathers got along fantastically.

By the end of the day, Blaine loathed himself and Thomas. He loathed himself for lying in the first place and he loathed Thomas for being so—so—he didn't even have words to describe the boy. He hated the boy more than his father already. At least his father had the tendency to keep his opinions to himself, something that Blaine obviously shared with the man. Thomas had no such tendencies. It was like the boy had no filter. He said everything that came to mind, no matter how crude or arrogant it was.

Well at least he was stepping out of his comfort zone, he thought bitterly. He could tell David and Wes that, though he was sure they hadn't meant it this way.

"You look as tired as I feel." Blaine lifted his head at the voice. His roommate for the night had apparently beaten him back to the room. Blaine hadn't expected that. He had assumed most people would be at the dance being hosted, including his roommate. The hazel-eyed boy had been looking forward to some peace and quiet after spending the majority of the day with his father and Thomas. He turned his head to look at the speaker. The boy was at least six inches taller than him, with dark skin and hair. He waved tiredly at the boy.

"I'm Blaine," he introduced himself and got to his feet. He held out a hand. The other boy took it after a minute.

"Gabriel," he replied, shaking Blaine's hand. "Not much of a partier?"

Blaine shook his head.

"My brain is too fried from everything they put us through. I take it you're not as well?"

Gabriel gave a small smile as he replied, "Not really. I was planning on reading. That's my idea of partying."

Blaine smiled back.

"I won't stop you then. I was just going to take a shower and go to bed." Blaine began to gather up his things to do just that.

Gabriel sat on his bed and pulled a book out of his bag. He flipped open to what seemed to be a random page and began to read.

"Have fun," he said in an absent-minded tone. Blaine said nothing, going into the adjoining bathroom. He was sort of glad that he was rooming with Gabriel for the night. If it had been someone like Thomas…well, what would have happened would be better left unsaid.

Blaine was exhausted as he stumbled out of the shower. He toweled off quickly, dressed in his sleeping clothes, and fell onto his bed. He was glad that the dorm rooms were small. There was less space for him to cross to get to his bed. Oh, his sacred bed. Within minutes, he was asleep.

Gabriel glanced over as Blaine let out a small snore and rolled his eyes slightly before turning back to his book. He had originally planned to turn off the light in fifteen minutes if Blaine still hadn't fallen asleep out of courtesy. However, Blaine had and the boy was dead to the world. Now it didn't matter if the light was on or not.

When Blaine woke up the next morning to his phone's alarm, his entire body was stiff. He was still in the position he had fallen asleep in the night before. The light was already on but when Blaine looked over to see if Gabriel was up already, he found the other boy asleep with his book propped open on his chest. He had clearly fallen asleep reading.

Attempting to be quiet, Blaine got his clothes and toothbrush out of his bag and headed for the bathroom. It was still fairly early. There was at least two hours until breakfast and another hour after that until the first orientation session of the day. With so much time, Blaine decided that going for a run would be a good idea. He didn't often go for runs, preferring to box instead, but this way he could explore the campus and the surrounding areas. It was also more convenient because he didn't know if the exercise room would be open and if he would be able to access it if the gym did happen to be open.

Once Blaine had gotten into the rhythm of running, he found that he was enjoying himself. The campus was just as he remembered it when he had gone to visit it last fall. He had originally liked it for the fact that it was in a city, but not as large as a city as New York or Chicago. It was small enough for him to feel comfortable in but it wasn't so small that he felt like he was trapped, like he had in Westerville. Then there was the fact that it was in the East Coast. No more Midwest towns for him. It was oddly freeing.

By the time Blaine had finished his run, he had covered most of the campus and was drenched in sweat. The sun may have just risen but it was already proving to be a hot and humid day. He would have to rethink his wardrobe choice for the day. Jeans and a sweater would definitely be too heavy. He would have to deal with the shorts he had packed just in case and a t-shirt.

Gabriel was gone when Blaine got back to the room. The boy was most likely at breakfast then, as it had started about ten minutes prior. Blaine had already made the decision to forgo breakfast for a shower and fresh clothes. Once he was ready for the day, he still had time for breakfast but decided to go meet up with his father instead. Sure, he wasn't overly fond of the man, but between his father and running into Thomas, Blaine would choose his father. At least his father kept his comments to himself most of the time.

"Did you eat?" Blaine's father asked as soon as Blaine managed to find him. That was it. No greeting. Just a question.

"No," Blaine admitted. "I wasn't hungry." It was partially true. The heat had made Blaine lose his appetite for the most part.

"What is on the agenda for today?" Blaine opened the bag in his hand and brought out the schedule. He scanned it.

"More sessions, registering for classes, and a study abroad question and answer forum," he replied. "The study abroad thing is right before lunch." Blaine was quite interested in studying abroad. He was interested to see what it was like actually  _living_  somewhere outside the United States, not just visiting.

"We'll see. You should focus on your schoolwork for the first year and possibly the second as well. Then we'll talk about it. I'm sure there will be more study abroad meetings in the future."

Blaine pursed his lips and turned away from his father. He wasn't going to fight his father on this right now. It was too hot and too early to butt heads with his father.

"We're free to leave after I register for classes," he said, changing the subject. Blaine's father nodded.

"Our flight leaves at 5:54 this evening. We need to get to the airport by 4:30 at the latest. Try to get registered before three o'clock then."

Blaine nodded once.

The morning sessions passed by agonizingly slow for Blaine. He stuck close to Gabriel and tried to avoid Thomas as much as possible. Gabriel didn't seem to mind Blaine practically latching on to him. He barely even noticed. The boy spent most of his free time reading. Blaine even caught him reading during the morning sessions. It was quite amusing actually. Blaine wondered if this is how he looked at Dalton when he was preparing for one of the Warbler competitions.

Blaine ate lunch quickly to try and sign up for an earlier registration time. He was also trying not to linger on the fact that he had missed the study abroad discussion. Gabriel had gone to it and came back extremely animated. He had been kind enough to fill Blaine in on what he had missed but it wasn't the same.

Once it was time to register, time started to fly by faster. Blaine had registered for a few of the core classes he was required to take, Economics, and Calculus II. He had gotten a high enough score on the placement test to get credit for Calculus, but to get those credits he had to take the next highest course, which had been Calc II. He wasn't looking forward to Calculus but he was looking forward to Economics even less. He had gone over the basics in his business and finance class at Dalton and had hated it. However it would get his parents off his case for a while.

As expected, Blaine's father wasn't overly thrilled that Blaine wasn't taking more business related classes but Blaine ignored the backhanded comments. He was used to them. At the airport, he called his mother and filled her in about orientation as well. She asked question after question about the two days and Blaine was relieved to hand the phone over to his father, who was subjected to the same treatment. He loved his mother but she had a tendency to ask the same questions, just worded a bit differently.

The plane ride was torturous. Not only did the plane make Blaine feel claustrophobic, but he was sitting next to his father and right in front of a family that was made up with a mother, a father, a five-year-old that wouldn't stop kicking his seat, and a toddler that wouldn't stop crying. Blaine wished he could plug his headphones into his iPod but his right headphone wouldn't play music. Even when Blaine tried to suffer through the broken headphones, his father would interrupt with some meaningless conversation. All in all, it was a very frustrating plane ride.

Even though it had only been two days, Blaine had never been so thankful to see home.


	5. The Move

The rest of the summer flew by for Blaine. He spent the majority of the time he had left in Westerville with the Warblers, especially Wes and David. Blaine was well aware that, unlike previous summers, he would not get the chance to see them in the fall at Dalton. Instead he would be in Virginia, starting his college career while his yearmates would be going elsewhere. He wanted to spend as much time with his friends before he had to leave.

He was also trying to find any excuse to stay away from his house and, more specifically, his parents. It seemed that every time he talked to them, VCU was mentioned or they were pushing him to figure out and declare a major. Not that they were giving him any say in the matter. Both of them were pushing him to declare business as his major and to consider either pre-law or pre-med. They believed he could do it.

It was extremely aggravating to Blaine. Neither one of his parents seemed to understand that he had absolutely no interest in those types of things. By now, he had basically given up trying to explain it to them. They wouldn't listen anyways. To them, he was still their little boy, not a legal adult like society said he was.

The last week was complete chaos for the Anderson family. Blaine had put off packing and his parents only realized that last week that there were still things they needed to order and ship to his aunt that lived nearby the school. On top of all that, Cooper had decided to visit with his newly made fiancée to say goodbye to his brother. Blaine didn't know which was worse, his parents with all the college talk or seeing his brother with the perfect Anderson life.

At the end of the week, Blaine had never been happier to see all his bags packed up in two of the cars his family owned. His parents would be driving one and Blaine and Cooper would be in the other. The Anderson brothers stuck in a car, together, for nearly nine hours. It would certainly be interesting. Cooper's fiancée had opted to stay behind and visit her cousins in Ohio instead of coming with. Internally, Blaine was grateful. He didn't think he could deal with seeing his brother's perfect romance for nearly nine hours. He would rather stab his eye out with an icepick.

They left at three in the morning, to get there around noon. It was torturous to Blaine, who wasn't a morning person, but there were limited move in hours. They had to be moved in by four at the absolute latest. Then his parents would spend the night at a hotel before driving back and Cooper would catch a plane to California. The end of his almost painful summer was in sight.

The drive was a blur to Blaine, who hadn't been able to sleep the night before. Cooper had spent most of the five hours he drove giving Blaine advice on how to handle college, oblivious to the fact that his younger brother had fallen asleep within the first hour. He spent the remaining four hours giving Blaine a shortened version as Blaine drove. By the time the pair reached the Virginia state line, Blaine's jaw hurt from clenching it so much.

"Don't accept drinks or food from anyone else at parties, especially if it's water, alcohol, or brownies," Cooper cautioned.

"I honestly don't think I'll be doing a lot of partying, Cooper," Blaine replied in a clipped tone. "That's not my thing."

"Which is totally cool," Cooper responded. "That means you'll have more time to focus on your studies. Don't spend all your time in your room, though. Get out and get to know people. Also, promise me you'll go to at least  _one_ party."

Blaine raised a triangular eyebrow.

"One. Just one," Cooper urged his brother. "You have to get the full college experience. Just remember, most take place on Thursday nights."

"Thursday?" Blaine's voice was full of disbelief. "Why on Thursdays?"

Cooper shrugged.

"Campus security and the police expect most parties to happen on Friday nights. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot on Fridays as well, but to avoid getting caught, the ideal night is Thursday."

Blaine said nothing and only shook his head.

"Oh! Look! We're here!" Cooper exclaimed, spotting the signs pointing to Virginia Commonwealth University.

Thank God, Blaine thought to himself, pursing his lips. Now all he had to do was unpack and move his parents along. He could almost taste the impending freedom.

Getting to the dorm was a hassle. The traffic on campus was almost as bad as city traffic. Everyone was in a rush to get everything moved in and situated, the Anderson family included.

The dorm in which Blaine was moving into was familiar, as it was the same dorm he had stayed in for orientation. The only difference was the room number.

"Hey! You're Blaine, right?" Blaine looked up from where he was setting a box on the floor. He immediately forced a smile on his face when spotting the speaker.

"Yeah. Hey Thomas," he greeted the boy. "How was your summer?"

The blond shrugged.

"Not too bad. Yours?"

"Not too bad," Blaine parroted. "It was good to see my classmates one last time."

Thomas gave a weird laugh.

"I suppose you're one of those people who loved every person at their school. I was glad to graduate and be rid of mine. It was such a drag," he commented. Blaine merely shrugged.

"I've got to keep unpacking," he said abruptly. "I'll see you around later?"

Thomas nodded and moved on, much to Blaine's relief. Blaine wasn't sure how he felt knowing Thomas obviously lived in the same dorm as he did. If Thomas ever figured out that he was one of those "show choir queers", he wasn't sure if he would feel safe being at VCU, let alone in the same dorm as the guy.

"This is it," a petite Asian woman was saying as she entered the room. Blaine and his family looked up at the family.

"Are you Blaine's roommate?" Blaine's father spoke up, asking the family.

"If he's the other boy staying in room 212, yes we are," the other boy's father spoke up. The two men eyed each other up. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I'm Blaine Anderson," he went up to the boy, introducing himself.

"Mike Chang," the other boy replied. He was taller than Blaine and seemed to be a fairly easygoing person, which Blaine was thankful for. However, he knew he couldn't rely on first impressions alone. "Are you a freshman?"

Blaine nodded.

"I think everyone living in the dorm is a freshman. Are you as well?"

Mike gave Blaine an awkward shrug.

"I'm a transfer student but since barely any of my credits transferred over, I have freshman status."

Blaine winced slightly. That was rough.

"Where did you study before?" he asked. Mike gave him an appraising look.

"Julliard. I studied dance there before I decided that I didn't like just studying that. I'm planning on studying dance here with a business minor."

Blaine blinked. That was an interesting combination. It gave him some hope for when he finally made a decision on what he wanted to study.

Soon after Mike came along, their other two roommates decided to show with their boxes. Luckily Blaine had been able to unpack his things fairly quickly and help the others out. Talking with them as they unpacked, Blaine was able to determine that he would get along with Mike the most. Once his parents saw that he was situated, they prepared to leave, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of people in the dorm.

"Got enough sheets?" Blaine's mother asked. Blaine nodded. "All your books and supplies?" Another nod. "Do you have your pills?" Blaine flushed slightly and he pointed to his desk drawer, where he had stashed them. He wished his mother hadn't asked that particular question. Now his roommates would possibly think that there was something wrong with him, physically or mentally. There was nothing wrong, just some allergies that were a pain to explain to other people.

Satisfied, Blaine's parents left for their hotel. Cooper went with them, practically being dragged by Blaine's mother as he shouted last minute advice down the hall. Blaine turned red as he heard his brother shout, "Enjoy yourself and try to get some!"

They were nearly done with unpacking entirely when Mike's phone beeped. The older boy glanced down at it.

"I'm going to go catch up with one of my friends that goes here. Do you want to come," he asked. Blaine nearly refused but a piece of Cooper's advice nagged at him.

"Sure," he agreed, somewhat reluctantly. He didn't want to feel like a third wheel but he wanted to know someone else on campus besides Mike and Thomas. Mike smiled at Blaine.

"Great. I can already tell that you and him will get along fabulously with each other."


	6. The First Meeting

Blaine followed Mike, who seemed to know the campus pretty well already, feeling like a little duckling that tailed its mother. He felt very awkward, even though Mike was doing his best to keep up a flow of conversation. A couple of times during the walk, Mike's phone buzzed but was ignored. After the third time, Blaine decided to mention something about it.

"Aren't you going to get that?" he asked quietly. Mike shook his head.

"It's just Tina. She'll understand," he replied.

"Tina?"

"My girlfriend," Mike clarified. "Speaking of that, do you have one?"

"A girlfriend?" Blaine asked. Mike nodded. Blaine felt heat rise to his cheeks.

"Er—no, I don't," he said.

"A boyfriend?"

Blaine's eyes widened.

"What?" he squeaked out once he could find words. Mike laughed slightly.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked again. "I wouldn't care. I spent last year at Julliard, after all, and before that, I was in Glee club."

"You were in Glee club?" Blaine repeated, slightly surprised and trying to change the current topic. Mike nodded.

"Won Nationals my senior year," he announced. "It was a pain sometimes but without Glee club, I probably wouldn't have started dating Tina."

"She's a big part of your life, then?" Blaine commented. Mike shrugged.

"She talked to my father about me going into dance. She also turned in my applications for me. If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be here right now," he agreed. "So, are you seeing anyone?"

And the conversation was focused back on Blaine.

"No," he answered slowly after a moment. "I'm not seeing anyone."

Avoiding eye contact with Mike in hopes that the conversation would end there, Blaine looked around campus to see if he knew where they were. He was surprised to see just how far they had come. They were nearly at their destination—the cafeteria.

"Wow," he said. "I didn't realize how far we've walked already."

"I just took a couple of shortcuts I knew about to get to the cafeteria," Mike explained as they walked through the doors to the University Student Commons.

"You must have been here a lot already to know the shortcuts," Blaine mentioned.

"I came down here for a couple weekends and breaks last year to spend time with friends when Juilliard began to get to be too much. One of them is the one you're meeting."

"How far of a drive was it?" Blaine questioned.

"About six hours," Mike grimaced as he remembered some of the drives from the previous year. "It wasn't too bad, though. It would've taken longer to go home than to come here."

"Where do you live again?" Blaine asked.

"Lima, Ohio," Mike responded with a grin. Blaine faltered in his step but kept on walking once he recovered from his brief shock.

"Oh? That's interesting," he said, trying to seem indifferent.

"Where are you from?" Mike asked. Blaine opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by someone calling Mike's name.

"Mike!"

The two boys turned to see another boy walking in their direction. Blaine's mouth suddenly went dry. The boy had the most beautiful chestnut hair. And his eyes—not blue, not green. Glasz, Blaine's mind supplied for him. Those features, coupled with the fact that the boy was wearing some of the tightest black skinny jeans imaginable, a long-sleeved white shirt, and a shimmery gold vest, was enough for Blaine to form the slight hint of a crush. There was only one thing that would have made the outfit complete—a bowtie.

"Hey Kurt," Mike greeted the newcomer and then turned to Blaine.

"Blaine, this is my friend Kurt. Kurt, this is Blaine," he introduced.

Kurt turned to Blaine and looked at the freshman appraisingly. Slightly tight jeans, a short sleeved T-shirt, and dark, curly hair that was held down with way too much gel.

"Hi," he held out a hand, "I'm Kurt."

Blaine took the offered hand and shook it, hoping that his slightly sweaty palms weren't noticeable.

"I'm Blaine," he replied with a small smile. Kurt returned the smile and then turned back to Mike.

"We should eat outside," he said. "It won't be as busy. The first few days in here are going to be like a zoo until everyone figures out the best times that fit in their schedule to eat."

Mike nodded in agreement.

"That okay with you?" he asked Blaine, who could only respond with a nod of his head.

Compared to orientation, Blaine was actually able to get through the lines fairly quickly. Soon, he was waiting for Kurt and Mike by the entrance with his food.

"Are you ready?" Kurt asked as the two approached. Blaine nodded. He was suddenly feeling very shy. Normally, he wasn't overly outgoing (unless he was singing), but he was usually more outgoing than this. This college thing was more intimidating than he thought it was going to be.

Outside the Commons, there were a few groups of people scattered here and there on the lawn but not as many there had been inside. It seemed that Kurt had been right.

"So where are you from, Blaine?" Kurt asked as they sit down. Blaine opened his mouth to admit that he was from Ohio as well but what was in his brain didn't translate to his mouth.

"I'm from Chicago," he heard himself saying. Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" he said, looking mildly impressed. "That's interesting. I could have sworn I heard an Ohioan accent."

Shoot. Blaine hadn't realized he had an accent. Of course Kurt would notice that.

"I spent most of my childhood in Westerville, Ohio but we moved before I started high school," his mouth lied for him. Blaine didn't understand why he was feeling the need to impress Kurt.

"We went to Chicago for Nationals my senior year," Mike mentioned. "I liked it there but not as much as New York."

Kurt sighed dramatically.

"Oh, New York," he said. "I loved it there. I want to live there once I graduate. I'm so jealous of Rachel right now."

"Rachel?" Blaine asked.

"A friend from high school. She goes to NYADA right now."

Blaine's lips upturned slightly.

"I take it she wants to be on Broadway?" he asked. Kurt and Mike rolled their eyes.

"If you had been in Glee club, you wouldn't even have to ask that," Mike replied. "It was all she talked about, being on Broadway. It got annoying at times."

Kurt's lips thinned ever so slightly.

"She has a good heart," he said carefully, "but even I can admit that she can be sort of self-absorbed at times, especially when it comes to Broadway. She called Carmen Tibideaux fourteen times when she choked on her audition."

Blaine choked a little bit on his drink.

"Fourteen times?" he asked. "That's a little…"

"Insane?" Mike supplied. "Welcome to Rachel Berry's world."

"The drama is free, of course," Kurt threw in. His phone let out a small trill, making all three boys jump. Kurt opened his phone and typed a quick message before he closed it and rolled his eyes.

"Sebastian?" Mike asked, not looking too happy all of a sudden. Kurt nodded.

"Who's Sebastian?" Blaine asked, starting to gain back that third-wheel feeling. He didn't know any of the people Mike or Kurt had been talking about.

"My boyfriend," Kurt said nonchalantly. Blaine's stomach jumped slightly. He frowned. Usually when his stomach got jumpy, a feeling of disappointment followed it. That was not a good sign. Why should he be disappointed that Kurt had a boyfriend? He was very attractive, after all. It shouldn't be a surprise.

"He looks like a meerkat," Mike mumbled. Kurt shot him an annoyed look.

"He does not," he said in crisp tones.

"He does, too," Mike protested. "He has the beady little eyes and the thick, dark eyebrows."

"Does not!" Kurt snapped. Mike sent a look and a nod to Blaine that made the other boy laugh.

"Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you have to call him a meerkat," Kurt grumbled.

"He doesn't seem trustworthy," Mike replied.

"He's harmless," Kurt said. The feeling of disappointment was strong inside Blaine now and only grew stronger the more Kurt defended this Sebastian person. The name sent disconcerting vibes through Blaine as well. He only knew one person named Sebastian and he definitely had not been a fan. It was a bit much to judge a person on their name alone but Blaine couldn't help himself.

After a few minutes, Blaine couldn't take it any more. He still felt awkward as Mike and Kurt talked about people he didn't know and he was still disappointed that Kurt already had a boyfriend. He would have liked to try and get to know Kurt more, even though his parents probably wouldn't have been happy.

"I think I'll catch up with you guys later," Blaine said as he got to his feet. "I want to make sure I have everything I need for Monday."

Mike gave Blaine a strange look but joined Kurt in waving good-bye. Blaine walked towards the nearest trashcan with a quicker than normal pace. Once he had dumped his leftovers, he walked even quicker to the nearest sidewalk back to GRC. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. All he wanted to do was get back to the dorm.

"Blaine, look out!"


	7. The Emergency Room

"Okay, just sit down and we'll get everything sorted out."

Mike pushed Blaine towards a row of chairs, gestured for Kurt to sit down beside Blaine, and walked hurriedly to the front desk. Blaine groaned and tried to put his head in his hands but stopped when it proved to be too painful. The back of his head was throbbing from where it had smacked against the pavement of the sidewalk and whenever he moved his left arm, pain shot up through his elbow.

"On a scale from one to ten, how much pain are you in?" asked Kurt. "With one being no pain at all and ten being crying from so much pain?"

Blaine hesitated for a few seconds, trying to wrap his head around the question. His head hurt too much for him to think clearly.

"Um, eight?" he replied, furrowing his brow.

"What hurts?" Kurt asked.

"Everything," Blaine said in a melodramatic voice. Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious," he said with a small chuckle. "But seriously, how do you manage to get run over by a bike on your first day on campus? That takes talent."

"I'm full of talent," Blaine said, the side of his mouth quirking slightly. The two boys laughed for a few seconds before Blaine cringed in pain. Laughing hurt his head.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Kurt's eyes widened and he instinctively brought up an arm to steady Blaine.

"Yeah," said Blaine. "I'll be fine once I see a doctor."

"Well, luckily there are doctors walking all around the place. We are in a  _hospital_ , after all," Kurt said cheerily. Blaine laughed again until the pain grew to be too much.

"Okay, laughing is not the best thing right now," he muttered under his breath.

"Just lean back and close your eyes then," Kurt replied. "I'm sure Mike will be back any minute with the paperwork."

True to his word, Mike was back within minutes with a clipboard and a pen. The dancer flipped through the sheets of paper attached to the clipboard, frowning slightly.

"Why do they need so much information?" he asked himself before turning to Blaine. "Do you think you can fill this out yourself or do you want me or Kurt to do it for you?"

Blaine was ready to reply that Mike or Kurt should probably do it but then he remembered that he would most likely have to put his address down. It would look odd if he told them an Ohio address when he had previously stated he was from Chicago.

Blaine opened his brown eyes.

"I'll do it," he said firmly and reached out to take the clipboard from Mike with his left hand. Pain shot up through his arm and Blaine pulled his arm back. He reached out again, this time with his right arm. Thankfully he was right-handed so he wouldn't have trouble writing. That was the only good thing about this entire situation.

Besides getting to spend time with Kurt, his mind supplied. With every passing moment, Blaine's crush on Kurt was growing.

That wasn't good. Kurt already had a boyfriend. They were probably perfect for each other, too.

As Blaine filled out the paperwork, he tried to ignore his thoughts about Kurt. He also tried to ignore Kurt and Mike talking quietly beside him. Filling out this paperwork was requiring all his concentration. He didn't remember a time when it had ever hurt this much to think.

Eventually Blaine completed the paperwork and insisted it on handing it in himself. He may have been in pain but he could still walk. Besides, he didn't want to risk either Kurt or Mike glancing at it and noticing the Ohio address. Why did they even put that sort of thing on the front page anyway? Why couldn't it have been on the back page?

After the paperwork was handed in to the woman sitting behind the front desk, Blaine settled back down to wait. And wait. And wait.

"Does it normally take this long?" Mike groaned after thirty minutes. Kurt flipped through his magazine.

"Don't ask me," he replied. "This is the first time I've been in the hospital here."

"Isn't this an emergency room?" Blaine mumbled, trying to fight away the fog in his hand. "Where people come when they need help right away? Wouldn't the treatment be faster?"

"You would think so," Kurt replied as he continued to flip through his magazine. "But I think that only applies when they bring you in via ambulance."

"I knew we should have allowed that biker to call nine-one-one," Mike muttered. "Why did you stop him, Kurt?"

"Because the biker wasn't hurt, Blaine was conscious, and my car was closer," Kurt replied, shutting the magazine. His phone let out a shrill ring and Kurt yanked it out of his pocket. He scowled at the screen before hitting a button, putting the phone up to his ear, and standing up. He walked away a few paces before beginning to talk.

"Hey, Sebastian," Kurt murmured. Blaine and Mike could still hear him clearly. There was a pause.

"I'm at the hospital," Kurt said. His eyes widened as he realized how that must have sounded. "Wait, I mean that I'm at the hospital but I'm not actually injured. I just drove one of my friends and his roommate here because his roommate got run over by a bike and looks pretty bad."

Another pause.

"Yes, I'm serious," Kurt said. "He actually got run over by a bike."

Blaine flushed. Yeah, that would be a great story to tell his parents if they ever found out about this little incident. Cooper would never let him live it down.

"I don't know how long it will take, Sebastian. The hospital's pretty busy."

Blaine and Mike looked around. There was only one other couple in the waiting room.

"No, I won't abandon Mike and his roommate at the E.R. They'll need a ride home and I won't force them to take the bus." Kurt shuddered ever so slightly at the thought. "I'll talk to you later."

Kurt snapped the phone shut without a further word and returned to his seat. Mike leaned around Blaine to give Kurt a look.

"So, not interested in seeing Sebastian?" he asked. Kurt glared at him.

"If you really must know," he said flipping open another magazine, "Sebastian wants to go out tonight to Godfrey's and I just want to stay in. It's been a long day."

"It's only two o'clock," Mike pointed out. Kurt shrugged.

"So?" he replied. Mike rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he muttered.

"Blaine Anderson?"

Blaine, Kurt, and Mike looked up. A nurse was standing on the other side of the room, looking around. Blaine got to his feet and swayed slightly, feeling dizzy. Kurt automatically stood up to steady Blaine.

"Do you want me to go with you?" he asked. Blaine shook his head once the dizziness had passed.

"I'll be fine," he insisted and walked toward the nurse.

"Are you Blaine?" she asked. Blaine nodded and the nurse smiled as she brought him into an examination room.

"I'm Donna Gray and I'll be the nurse seeing you today. What seems to be bothering you?"

Blaine flushed.

"I sort of got ran over by a bike," he mumbled. "I hit my head on the pavement and my left arm hurts whenever I move it." The nurse nodded.

"How is your head now?" she asked. "Are you dizzy? Have you been seeing double?"

"I'm slightly dizzy and my head feels really foggy," Blaine said. "It's hard to focus and I have a slight headache."

The nurse nodded again.

"We'll run a couple more tests," she informed him, "but I think you might have a slight concussion. Do you remember everything that happened before and after the accident?"

Blaine nodded his head and winced when it intensified his headache. Nurse Gray continued.

"Now about your arm? Where exactly does it hurt?"

"Everywhere but the pain seems to be centered around the elbow. It hurts the most whenever I bend or extend it. When the bike knocked me over, it hit the pavement pretty hard."

"Did you hear a crack or feel something when it hit the pavement?"

Blaine shook his head and winced again. Nurse Gray took note of the reaction.

"Okay, let's try something new. Whenever I ask a question, just answer yes or no. Don't nod or shake your head," she ordered.

"Okay," Blaine agreed.

"So what I think we're going to do is do a couple more tests to determine if you have a concussion and then take you back to the x-ray room and take a look at your elbow."

"Okay," Blaine agreed.

Within thirty minutes, Blaine came out with some not-so-happy results. He definitely had a mild concussion and the x-rays revealed that he had fractured his elbow so his left arm was in a temporary cast and sling. As he walked back into the waiting room, two pairs of eyes widened as they spotted Blaine.

"So, what's the verdict?" Mike asked. Blaine grimaced.

"Concussion and fractured elbow," he said. Both Kurt and Mike winced. "I have to come back next week to take another look at my elbow. The nurse says I need to rest until the symptoms of my concussion subside."

"Let's get back to campus, then," Kurt said. "I'm sure that everyone here just wants to relax for the rest of the day. After all, classes are starting soon and it's already been a stressful day."

"Good idea," Mike agreed. "Let's get back."


	8. The First Day

Blaine wasn't ready for Thursday morning after welcome week when it rolled around. Sure he had gotten all his textbooks and school materials but he wasn't ready mentally. It didn't help that he had classes starting at eight o'clock in the morning. When his alarm went off, it signaled the official end of summer for him.

Blaine was never a morning person so starting off his day so early wasn't ideal. What made things even worse was that his eight o'clock class was Intro to Economics. Tuesday and Thursday mornings were going to be absolutely miserable for Blaine.

Blaine stumbled through his room, trying to be quiet and not wake up Mike, who didn't have class until ten o'clock. It was difficult to dress with his elbow but he had gotten used to it slightly over the past few days. It no longer pained him as much as it had originally.

Breakfast had to be skipped this particular morning because Blaine hadn't gotten out of bed until it was absolutely necessary. Even without breakfast, Blaine barely left his room on time to get to class.

Walking into his economics class, Blaine held in a groan as he spotted a familiar, but unwelcome, face. Thomas. He had the worst luck ever. Only he would be surrounded by people he disliked in a class that he was bound to hate. He tried to sneak into the back row without Thomas seeing him. Unfortunately the boy glanced in the direction of the door and spotted him. Thomas grinned upon seeing Blaine and waved him over. Reluctantly, Blaine sat next to Thomas, slumping in his seat as he did so.

"Hey," Blaine greeted the other boy in a dull voice.

"Just woke up?" Thomas asked. Blaine nodded.

"What happened to your arm?" Blaine glanced at his elbow, where it was wrapped in a sling.

"Broke it. Accident," he mumbled.

"Doing what?" Thomas questioned. Blaine shrugged his good shoulder.

"Bike," he muttered and hoped that Thomas would leave it at that. He didn't want to have to explain. Luckily, Thomas was satisfied to leave it at that.

"Rough luck, man," he replied and moved on to a new topic. "Have you ever had economics before?"

"Sort of."

"Well, you picked a good class for this. I've been talking to other business majors around campus and everyone who's had this professor has absolutely loved him and this class."

Blaine made an indistinguishable noise.

"Have you been talking to other business majors around campus? I've met a few and they've been offering some great inside. They know what the best classes are and what ones to avoid, with tons of other stuff."

Thomas continued on like that for the rest of the time before class started. Blaine did his best to block out the boy but it was near impossible with Thomas asking him questions left and right. Blaine settled with giving generic answers most of the time and when all else failed, saying, "I don't know." He said it more times than he wished to in those few minutes but it was too early to carry on a conversation properly. At least, for him it was. Thomas, on the other hand, seemed to be a morning person.

Blaine had never been so happy to see the professor walk into the room. No matter how much he had been dreading the start of classes, he would have done anything to get Thomas to shut up.

The entire class time was spent going over the syllabus. The homework schedule was included in the syllabus, along with the exam schedule, but Blaine had tuned most of it out. He was used to this sort of thing from Dalton, which prided itself on prepping its students for college, following as close to a traditional college schedule as possible. The thing that surprised Blaine the most about the syllabus was the mention of extra credit. None of his classes at Dalton had ever offered extra credit.

By the end of class time, Blaine was much more awake than he had been when he arrived. He packed his bag up in a flurry, trying to get away from Thomas as soon as possible. He didn't want to be lured into a conversation again.

No such luck. He had just zipped up his bag when Thomas stopped him.

"I doubt we'll need it for this class, but do you want to get together and study for the homework and exams?"

Blaine hesitated. Every instinct in his body was screaming for him to say no but he had never been able to say no to people.

"Um…" he said and looked around, seeing if there was any other person he knew in the class. However, most of his classmates by this point had left, eager to go back to bed or to grab breakfast.

"Sure," Blaine mumbled, feeling unable to say no. He instantly hated himself.

"Great!" Thomas finished packing up his materials and walked away, leaving Blaine alone. Blaine stared after the boy before shaking his head and leaving as well. He wanted to grab some coffee before his next, and last, class of the day—Calculus II at noon.

He could have gone to the commons again but he wanted to explore the campus a bit more. Plus, he wanted something a bit stronger than simple coffee. Something more specialized.

Blaine shook his head at the thought. He was sounding like a coffee snob.

It didn't take much wandering around before Blaine found a promising looking place. It didn't look like much but it looked homey and had an outdoor seating area. Blaine went inside, looked around, and ordered before moving to the outdoor seating area. He pulled out his computer again and began typing his homework schedule into the calendar on his laptop. He had found in the past that it was the easiest way to keep track of what he needed to do. Papers could easily get lost in his disaster of a bag but it only took a simple search to find something on his computer. He was thrilled to discover that the coffee shop had free Wi-Fi. He could easily see this place becoming a normal hangout for him.

After a few minutes, Blaine put his laptop away, his homework schedule safely entered into it. He didn't want to risk coffee accidently getting onto it. He had seen the results of the one time Cooper had spilled a beverage on his own computer. Cooper still claimed that it was milk but the stench of alcohol had been clear when he brought it home. Their dad hadn't been pleased.

So, instead, Blaine decided to watch the people around him. It always kept him occupied when he was waiting.

The coffee shop held a large variety of people. Over in the corner was an old couple, chatting quietly and feeding each other bites of food from their plates. The gentle interaction made Blaine smile. He hoped that he would have the opportunity to grow old with someone one day.

In the middle of the outside seating area were a couple of students that looked to be a few years older than Blaine. They were sipping their individual drinks and talking animatedly. Every few seconds, one of them would wave their hands around wildly.

Preparing to leave was a single mother sitting beside a stroller. She pulled a blanket out from the basket hanging under the stroller and tucked it firmly in around the tiny baby before carefully navigating the stroller onto the street.

Standing in line at the counter were a few young women, dressed professionally. They each looked like they were in a rush and snapped out their orders hurriedly. Blaine assumed they were either late to work or interns on a very strict deadline.

The bell on the door rang as the door opened. Blaine turned his head to look over the shop's newest occupants. They were two ordinary looking women, conversing with large smiles on their faces. Blaine was prepared to label them as friends and finish his coffee but then one of them grabbed the others hand and kissed her partner gently on the lips.

Blaine's blood ran cold. Any minute now he expected one of the shop's other occupants to throw out a slur or for the employee working the counter to throw them out. It had happened to people he had seen in Ohio before, multiple times. It had happened enough to make him feel that even though he was out of the closet mostly, he would probably never feel comfortable enough to show affection to his partner in public.

When none of that happened, Blaine looked around. No one had even given the couple a second look.

Noticing that, Blaine stopped and reevaluated his thoughts. He really wasn't in Ohio anymore, he finally realized. He was out East, where the people were known for being much more liberal in general. It was a freeing thought.

Blaine finished his coffee in one swallow and double-checked that he had put everything back into his bag. It was nearing ten o'clock, which meant that Mike was probably on his way to class. The curly-haired boy left the coffee shop and was back at the dorm within a few short members.

Blaine killed the time until his next class by reading a book. He was currently re-reading Fever 1793. It was relatively short and since it was meant for younger students, it was an easy read. He would easily be able to finish it by the end of the day. He was almost halfway through it when the time came for him to get ready for his next class. He was also dreading this class but not as much as he had been dreading Economics. At least he could understand most of went on in his Calculus class at Dalton.

Mike was just getting back as Blaine was leaving. The two passed each other at the dorm entrance.

"How was your first class?" Mike asked as he passed Blaine. Blaine groaned in response and Mike gave him a sympathetic look.

"How was yours?" Blaine called back. Mike shrugged.

"Didn't learn anything yet," he replied with a smile, waving as the door closed. Blaine shook his head with a small grin before heading off to the building where his next class was being held. He got to the room early enough that one or two of his classmates were there but the majority of them weren't. Blaine was given a nice surprise when he recognized one of the students already there.

"Gabriel?" he said. The boy's head shot up from where it was buried in his book.

"Oh, hey," he greeted Blaine. "Nice to see that orientation didn't scare you off."

Blaine grinned and sat down in the desk next to Gabriel. Gabriel gestured at his arm and Blaine flushed slightly, knowing what was coming.

"What did you do?"

"Accident that happened a few days ago," Blaine muttered. "Biking."

"Were you that kid that got run over by the bike?" Blaine's flushed deepened and Gabriel took that as a yes.

"How did you find out?" he asked. Gabriel shrugged and turned back to his book.

"The guy who was riding the bike lives next door. He wouldn't stop talking about how he felt bad."

"Small world," Blaine said lamely. Gabriel shrugged. Blaine sat there awkwardly for a minute before he had the urge to fill the silence.

"What book are you reading?" he asked. Gabriel looked up from his book once again.

"It's called 1491," he answered. "It's about the people who lived here before Columbus arrived."

"Nonfiction or fiction?" Blaine asked.

"Nonfiction," Gabriel responded. "It came out a few years ago."

"Is it any good? I've been looking for some new reading material."

Gabriel shrugged and turned back to his book. Blaine sat back, a little disappointed. For some reason, he had been hoping the boy would have been more talkative, even though it didn't fit with what he remembered from the boy at orientation. He supposed that the boy was naturally introverted or just didn't take well to people interrupting his reading.

Blaine settled in and watched students filter into the classroom. There were a couple freshmen that stuck their heads in, looked around, asked a question to someone closer to the door, and then left. They must have been in the wrong classroom. Blaine was fortunate that he hadn't had that problem yet.

Blaine cursed under his breath as he watched Thomas walk in. He just couldn't get away from that aggravating boy. How was it that they had two classes together? It just didn't seem likely in a campus with as many people as VCU held. Then again, they were supposedly in the same major. That might have accounted for it.

Thomas spotted Blaine and grinned widely. Blaine slumped in his seat as the other boy made his way toward him and Gabriel.

"Hey," Thomas said as he slid into the desk on the other side of Blaine. "What's up?"

"Nothing new," Blaine replied reluctantly.

"How many more classes do you have after this?" Thomas asked.

"None," Blaine responded.

"Lucky. I have one more class this evening."

Blaine made a noncommittal noise and gave a slight shrug. He didn't know how to respond to that. He wasn't sure that he liked Thomas acting all buddy-buddy with him. He didn't want to be friends with the guy, particularly.

Calculus passed awkwardly for Blaine. He was beyond happy when they were let out an hour later with a basic review assignment.

"Are you going to lunch next?" Thomas asked as he caught up with Blaine outside the room. Blaine looked to each side wildly for a way out. Finding none, he responded.

"I was going back to my room," he said. "Me and my roommate were planning to meet up."

It was a lie but Blaine didn't know how much longer he could stand to be around Thomas.

"I'll go with you then," Thomas said eagerly. Blaine held in a sigh. He just couldn't win today, could he?

The pair walked back to the residential hall, Thomas doing most of the talking while Blaine replied with the vaguest answers he could think of. It was almost like Thomas was oblivious to how uncomfortable Blaine was acting. He was entirely self-absorbed and it became clearer the more he talked.

Blaine could barely restrain himself when they reached the dorm. He wanted nothing more to do than to just run inside and lock himself in his room until he was sure Thomas was far, far away. However, he forced himself to walk normally and give a clipped wave to Thomas when they separated. It took Blaine a few tries before he was able to unlock his door, due to his hands shaking so badly. Once inside, Blaine rested against the door and let out a heavy breath. It was only when he opened his eyes that he noticed that he and Mike had a visitor.


	9. The Gym

"Oh hey, Blaine!"

Blaine stared at Kurt blankly, barely registering his presence.

"Hey," he mumbled.

"What happened?" Mike looked concerned for Blaine.

"This guy I met from orientation happens to be in two of my classes. He doesn't shut up," Blaine explained.

"That's not too bad," Kurt commented.

"It is when he's self-absorbed and has an obnoxious voice," Blaine muttered grumpily and set his bag next to his desk. "What were you two planning?"

"Lunch," Mike said. "Want to come?"

Blaine shrugged his good shoulder.

"Sure," he agreed. "That was my excuse to get away from that guy, so I guess it worked out."

Both Kurt and Mike chuckled at that.

"Well, let's go then," Mike said, slinging his arms around Kurt and Blaine's shoulders. "Can't have you be known as a liar."

Kurt laughed and Blaine had to force a smile onto his face, despite the uneasy feeling in his gut.

* * *

A few days later, Blaine had suffered through his first day of all his classes and had actually started learning the subject material relevant to his classes. Economics was looking to be better than it was in high school but Blaine still wasn't fond of how early the class was and that he was forced to spend the time period with Thomas. Luckily it wasn't every single day of the week. That was the only good thing.

Calculus wasn't as bad as Economics, because Blaine could use Gabriel as a buffer somewhat when Thomas became too annoying. Thomas and Gabriel never directly spoke to each other (mainly because Gabriel often began reading once Thomas showed up) but it was a good strategy to direct the conversation in a different way.

Blaine's other classes were okay but there was no specific class in general that Blaine was thrilled about. He was mainly taking all his classes because he was required to. He hadn't found his passion yet and was starting to doubt that he ever would. After all, he hadn't found any particular passion at Dalton, perhaps besides singing but he didn't want to become a singer, even if his parents would have allowed it.

"Ready to go, Blaine?" Blaine was drawn out of his thoughts by Mike, who had appeared in front of him.

"Go where?" Blaine asked. Had he forgotten something?

"To work out. You agreed to go last night, remember?"

Blaine searched his memory and came up blank.

"We did?" he asked Mike. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Yes, we did. Right before we went to bed, I mentioned something about wanting to work out and asked if you wanted to go. You said 'okay' and then fell asleep. Of course, now that I think about it, you might have just been sleep-talking again."

Blaine flushed. During Welcome Week, Mike had woken up to Blaine mumbling something indiscernible. It had happened the next night as well, so Mike had brought it up and hadn't stopped bringing it up since then. It was slightly embarrassing for Blaine, who knew that he normally only talked in his sleep when he had something troubling his mind or was under a lot of stress. It made sense that he would start again at college, as it was a totally new environment for him.

"Oh," he said weakly. "Well, I'll still go if you want me to."

Mike shrugged.

"It would be nice," he admitted. Blaine nodded and got to his feet.

"Just don't strain your arm," Mike cautioned as Blaine gathered up workout clothes to change in to. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I'll be fine," he said determinedly. "I'm sure there are some things that I'll be able to do with one arm."

Half an hour later, Blaine was beginning to regret his decision to work out. Sure there were some things he was able to do, but anything dealing with weight lifting was out of the question. Boxing was also out of the question for now, since Blaine only knew sequences that involved using two hands. That only left the cardio equipment for Blaine to use. He didn't mind it but he was wishing he had brought along his headphones so he could listen to some music. There was music playing in the gym but it wasn't the type of music he normally listened to when he worked out. Besides, it was so soft that it was hard to hear over the chatter and clanking of weights.

It took only twenty more minutes before Blaine was utterly bored. He slid off the stationary bike he had been working out on and grabbed his bag. He waved at Mike to get his attention and signaled that he was leaving. Mike nodded before turning his focus back on to the weights he was lifting.

Even just stepping outside of the gym was a cool relief for Blaine. The air-conditioned hallway was nowhere near as warm as inside the exercise room and was refreshing against Blaine's sweat-soaked skin. Blaine wandered around for a few minutes, looking for a vending machine but not trying too hard.

Turning a corner, Blaine ran into two bodies and stumbled backwards from the force.

"Whoa," one of the figures he had run in to said and steadied Blaine by grabbing his shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Blaine said as he stepped back to get a better look at the people he had nearly run over. He recognized both of them, but only one was welcome.

"Sorry," he muttered as Kurt let go of his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Blaine," Kurt greeted him. "Is Mike with you?"

Blaine nodded and eyed the other person standing slightly behind Kurt warily. Kurt followed his gaze and realized that the two hadn't been formally introduced.

"Oh! Blaine, this is Sebastian, my boyfriend. Sebastian, this is Mike's roommate Blaine. He's from Chicago."

Blaine flinched slightly as Kurt announced where he was allegedly from. Of all the people Kurt had to be dating, it was someone that could call him out on his lie. Sebastian was well aware he wasn't from Chicago. They had gone to Dalton together, after all.

Faint surprise registered in Sebastian's eyes before it was replaced by a calculating look. A smirk crossed his face. Blaine's insides twisted nervously. He didn't like that look at all.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom and then we should go find Mike and do something together," Kurt decided, missing the look that Sebastian had adopted. He shoved a finger into Sebastian's chest and gave him a fierce look. "Behave while I'm gone."

"Yes, mother," Sebastian replied sarcastically. Kurt gave him a warning look before disappearing around the corner Blaine had just turned.

"Chicago, huh?" Sebastian asked Blaine, who colored.

"It's complicated," he muttered.

"Everything's complicated for you," Sebastian replied haughtily. "Poor little Blaine, always so concerned with pleasing everyone that he'll do anything, including lie to his friends."

Blaine grew even redder but couldn't deny something that was glaringly true.

"What do you want, Sebastian?" he demanded. Sebastian shrugged.

"I don't know yet," he said simply, "but rest assured, I'll think of something. And I'm sure you'll do it. After all, you don't want your friends finding out you're a liar. That would be embarrassing."

Blaine glared at Sebastian, who smirked at him smugly. He had forgotten just how much the taller boy irritated him, especially when he pulled stunts like this. It had led to many arguments when they were in the Warblers together.

The two glared at each other for the rest of the time Kurt was gone, Blaine defensively and Sebastian arrogantly. Both knew that Sebastian had the upper hand in this situation now but Blaine didn't have to be happy about it. How had he forgotten that Sebastian had chosen to attend VCU as well?

"Where should we go?" Kurt asked once he and Mike had found the other two. Both Mike and Blaine shrugged. Blaine would have preferred that they didn't go anywhere but he didn't want to leave Mike and Kurt alone with Sebastian. He didn't know what the irritating boy would tell them and didn't want to risk anything.

"We should go to Godfrey's," Sebastian gave as an option. Kurt glared at him.

"No," he said firmly. "It's the middle of the day."

"Can you think of something better to do?" Sebastian countered.

"Something that doesn't involve going to a club and getting drunk," Kurt suggested. Sebastian emitted a loud sigh.

"Fine, take all the fun out of everything," he grumbled loudly. Blaine watched their interactions closely. How did a guy like Kurt end up dating a jerk like Sebastian? He couldn't imagine a relationship like theirs ever working. Of course, judging by the phone call he had overheard in the emergency room, it seemed like not all was perfect in their relationship.

Mike interrupted before things could erupt into something bigger.

"Let's get something to eat or drink," he suggested. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Kurt said, smiling at Mike. "Every time I see you, you're eating or wanting to get something to eat and yet, you're still as skinny as a bean pole. It wasn't like this in high school. What happened?"

Mike shrugged.

"Dance burns a lot of carbs," he pointed out. "Plus, it's a lot more intensive than football. Some of the girls in my class arrive at the practice rooms at six in the morning and don't leave until well after dinner."

Blaine cringed. He could never survive on a schedule like that.

"Yeah, well, you can easily find a few crazies in every fine arts major," Sebastian mentioned. "Let's go to Starbucks and you and Kurt can compare notes on the crazies."

Kurt rolled his eyes, missing the glare that Mike sent Sebastian. Blaine was reassured by the fact that Mike seemed to dislike Sebastian as much as he did.

Blaine and Mike didn't stay with Kurt and Sebastian very long, leaving soon after their coffee had been consumed. Mike was in a foul mood on the walk back to their room.

"Not a fan of him?" Blaine asked. Mike muttered something under his breath before looking at Blaine.

"I don't like the way he treats Kurt," he explained. "And I think Kurt could do so much better."

Mike didn't say anything for a while after that and Blaine assumed that was all he was going to get out of the Asian boy. However, Mike surprised him when he eventually continued.

"He lies to Kurt all the time and it's so blatantly obvious to everybody but Kurt. Kurt deserves someone who wouldn't lie to him and go behind his back."

"Yeah," Blaine agreed quietly as they entered their room. It was true. Kurt did deserve someone better than Sebastian. Someone who didn't lie and blackmail others. He also deserved someone better than Blaine, who had lied to Kurt the moment he met him.


	10. The Problem

Blaine picked at his food. He had been having a horrible day so far and he doubted that it would get any better. After all, it hadn't so far. He had woken up late and had just barely made it to class on time. In Chemistry, they had had a lab and Blaine hadn't fully understood what was going on, nearly destroying their work. Luckily Gabriel, who happened to be in his Chemistry class and his lab partner, had intervened before things had gotten messy. Then, in his other class of the day, Blaine was pretty sure that he had failed a pop quiz. He had known the material but he had blanked as soon as the paper had been set in front of him.

After classes, Blaine and Mike had met up with Kurt and Sebastian. Sebastian kept sending smug looks in Blaine's direction—looks that Blaine had tried his best to ignore but failed. He couldn't help worrying that Sebastian had something ugly planned for Blaine.

Then his parents had called. That had been an ugly conversation, especially when his father had found out about the quiz. His words still rang in Blaine's head.

" _I hope that this is only a one time thing, Blaine. We're not paying for college just for you to be kicked out for doing poorly in your academics."_

Why was it so easy for his father to make him feel like such a disappointment? Like he would never be enough? That he was just a failure?

Mike watched Blaine as his roommate ate silently. He knew that Blaine had been having a bad day (Blaine had readily admitted it when he asked) but there was something bugging him. Something that was bigger than just an ordinary bad day.

Blaine shoved his plate off to one side. He had barely touched his food. It just didn't look appetizing.

"Do you know what always cheers me up when I have a bad day?" Mike told Blaine. "Ice cream. Let's go get some."

Blaine opened his mouth to say that he couldn't have any, that ice cream and other milk-based sweets made him sick, but then he stopped. Ice cream made him feel sick at first but once that had passed, he always felt more confident. More sure of himself. After he was done being sick, he felt good about his body and when he felt confident about his physical appearance, he was confident in everything else.

"Okay," he agreed. "Ice cream sounds really good right now."

An hour later, the side effects hit Blaine. Mike winced as he heard Blaine's reaction in the bathroom to the product through the paper-thin walls. Some of those noises weren't human.

"Are you okay?" he called through the door.

"Fine," Blaine replied. Mike frowned. Blaine sounded fine but one could never be too sure. Mike decided not to mention anything about what had just happened when Blaine walked out.

"Do you need a ride to the hospital tomorrow?" he asked instead. Blaine gave him a confused look.

"The hospital?" he asked. Mike gestured to his elbow, which was still in its cast and sling.

"You're getting that off tomorrow, remember?" Blaine's eyes widened. He had totally forgotten about his appointment. He had grown so used to working around his arm by now. It didn't even pain him anymore. However, it couldn't have come at a better time, though. He would be glad to be rid of the thing.

"Hallelujah," Blaine responded as he flopped into his desk chair. "Has it really been that long already? And yeah, a ride would be great."

"I'll text Kurt then. He was asking earlier."

Blaine didn't know how to react to Mike's comment. He was torn in two directions. After the whole Sebastian blackmailing him situation, Blaine wanted to avoid Kurt as much as possible. He also wanted to avoid the boy because he still wasn't sure how he felt about Kurt. He didn't want to call it a crush but it was getting to the point where he couldn't call it much else. It was beginning to make him feel uneasy.

However, Blaine was ecstatic that Kurt had been asking about him. It meant that he had left an impression on Kurt after all their meetings. It meant that Kurt had been thinking about him. Just the thought of Kurt thinking about him made Blaine feel giddy.

Mike set his phone next to him as he waited for Kurt's text message.

"You know, most students would go out and have fun on the weekends but you're heading to the hospital and I'm planning on spending the entire day in the practice room because I have nothing better to do," he said. Both boys grimaced.

"The entire day? Really?" Blaine asked. Mike shrugged.

"I have to keep up in class," he stated. "And, like I said, there's nothing better to do."

"You could accompany me to the hospital," Blaine said. His request had nothing to do with the fact that he was concerned with spending time alone with Kurt….not. Mike laughed.

"No thanks," he began but was interrupted by Blaine's phone ringing. Blaine jumped. He had forgotten he had taken his phone off of silent.

"Hello?" he said, answering it once he had recovered from his shock.

"Hey Blaine, it's Gabriel," the voice on the other end said.

"Oh hey! What's up?" Blaine asked.

"Well, we have that exam in Calculus and I was wondering if you wanted to get together sometime tomorrow and study." Gabriel sounded nervous to Blaine, who couldn't figure out why. What was there to be nervous about if you were just asking a person to help you study?

"I thought that wasn't until later this week, though," Blaine said, pinning his phone between his shoulder and ear and flipping through his calendar to look at the date he had put the exam down for.

"It isn't, but I get pretty busy during the week. Is it okay if we study tomorrow? Or did you have other plans?"

"If you don't mind waiting until the afternoon, it'll be fine," Blaine told Gabriel. "I have to go to the doctor in the morning about my elbow. I'll call you when I get back to campus, if that's all right."

"That's fine," Gabriel sounded relieved, further puzzling Blaine. The boy couldn't want to study that much, could he? "I hope everything goes okay and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay," Blaine murmured before hanging up his phone. He caught Mike staring at him.

"What?" he asked, once Mike's stare began to unnerve him. Mike shrugged.

"Got a date?" he asked. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right," he replied. "Just studying with a classmate. We have an exam this week. Did Kurt respond yet?"

Mike nodded.

"He said to be ready to leave by nine o'clock," he replied. Blaine cringed at the earliness of the time. Mike chuckled.

"You know, if you had paid attention and not been run over by that bike, you could have slept in," he pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah," Blaine mumbled under his breath and pulled out his homework.

* * *

True to his word, Kurt was waiting for Blaine as the curly-haired boy walked out of the building at promptly nine o'clock. Much to Blaine's surprise, Kurt had a cup of coffee waiting for him.

"I didn't know what you liked, so I just got a black coffee and some sugar and cream packets," Kurt said as Blaine slid in to the passenger seat. "Mike said that you weren't a morning person."

"He's right," Blaine said between yawns. "And black's fine. Sugar and cream just make me sick."

"Duly noted," Kurt replied. "Now is it the same hospital as before or someplace different?"

Blaine passed along the address he had been given. Kurt nodded and typed it in to his GPS. The ride to the clinic was mostly quiet at first, with Blaine thankfully sipping his coffee. It did a great deal in waking him up. After a few minutes, Blaine realized that music was playing in the Navigator. He hadn't noticed it before because it was so quiet.

"Wicked?" he asked. Kurt looked at him in surprise but nodded.

"Do you mind?" he asked. Blaine shook his head.

"It's one of my favorites," he admitted.

"Mine, too," Kurt agreed. "I almost sang Defying Gravity as a solo in one of my glee club's competition but I blew the audition."

"That sucks," Blaine murmured. Kurt made an indistinguishable noise.

"Didn't matter in the long run," he informed Blaine. "We did a different song instead at last minute. Our glee club was known for doing things like that."

Blaine laughed.

"Were you in any clubs in Chicago?" Kurt asked. Blaine gave a tiny flinch.

"Not really," Blaine replied, though he wished that he didn't. "I just studied a lot. I didn't have much of a social life."

The car was silent once again.

"Oh!" Blaine jumped as Kurt suddenly spoke. "I've been meaning to ask you. Do you have a Facebook? I was looking for it a few weeks ago, after I met you, but I couldn't find anything. Really put a dent into my plan to Facebook stalk you."

"Er…no," Blaine replied. "I used to but after a bad week, I deleted it. I never got around to making another one."

"What happened?" Kurt asked. Blaine shifted awkwardly.

"Just some bullies," he finally said. He knew his answer was vague but he didn't want to go into detail. Those memories were still painful to relive.

"Oh," Kurt said, giving Blaine a sad look. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Blaine brushed off the apology. "It's not like I'm going to see them again."

The rest of the car ride was silent. Upon reaching the clinic, Blaine was prepared to be dropped off but to his surprise, Kurt parked and unbuckled his seat belt.

"You don't have to come in," Blaine informed Kurt, who shrugged.

"I don't really have anything else to do today," he told Blaine. "Are you ready?"

Blaine nodded, touched that Kurt was willing to stay with him.

"Let's do this."


	11. The Economics Exam

Blaine glanced down at his arm and couldn't stop himself from smiling. Next to him, Kurt chuckled.

"What?" Blaine asked, not bothering to rid himself of the smile on his face. Kurt shrugged.

"It's so adorable how you can't stop smiling. If it takes something as simple as getting a cast off, I'd say you're easily pleased."

Blaine flushed as Kurt called him adorable. That was the first time anyone beside family had called him adorable.

"So do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" Kurt asked abruptly. Blaine turned his head to look at the other boy, who had an odd expression on his face.

"I'm meeting up with someone to study for a calculus exam," he said. Kurt looked slightly disappointed though Blaine couldn't imagine why.

"I see," he said in a clipped voice. Blaine felt as if he had missed something.

"What about you?" he asked. Kurt shrugged.

"I'll probably meet up with Sebastian," he said. Blaine resisted a flinch at the reminder of Kurt's boyfriend. Sebastian was making his life difficult without even trying. Blaine couldn't help but resent the former Warbler.

The rest of the ride back to campus was spent in mostly silence. Both boys made a few comments here and there but none were significant enough to start a conversation. In the background, the Wicked soundtrack played.

"I'll see you around?" Blaine asked Kurt as they prepared to split ways. Kurt nodded with a soft smile.

"Have fun studying for your calculus exam," he wished. Blaine made a face and Kurt chuckled.

As Blaine walked back to the dorm, he kept looking down at his arm. It felt weird to not have the cast on it. He couldn't wait for it to return to full strength so he could take up boxing again.

"Blaine?"

Blaine stiffened at the familiar voice and turned, plastering a smile on his face. Of course he would run into Thomas of all people.

"Hey," he greeted the other boy.

"I almost didn't recognize you without the cast on," Thomas mentioned. Blaine shrugged.

"I just got it off this morning," he replied. "What's up with you?"

"Heading to the library to study for our economics test," Thomas replied. Blaine's eyes widened. Economics test? They had an economics test?

He laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah, when is that again?" he asked. Thomas gave him a look, as if he couldn't believe that Blaine had forgotten they had a test.

"Tuesday," he answered. Blaine's eyes widened. Crap.

"I'll see you on Tuesday," he replied, hurrying away, cursing himself in his head as he headed back to his room. How could he have possibly forgotten about that test?

That afternoon, Blaine could barely focus on calculus when he met up with Gabriel. He still hadn't stopped kicking himself for forgetting about his exam. He knew, with how he was doing in economics so far, that there wasn't nearly enough time for him to study and be confident about the material. Economics—or anything business related for that matter—just didn't come to him easily.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked, half an hour into the study session. He closed his book. Blaine wasn't being very talkative and just wanted to focus on studying, which was something Gabriel hadn't counted on. When Gabriel had called Blaine, asking if the other boy wanted to study, he had hoped it would end up being more of a study  _date_ , not just straight up studying.

Blaine sighed.

"Fine," he replied. "I just have another test to study for later."

Gabriel made an understanding noise.

"Do you want to get something to drink?" he asked. "We can study later."

Blaine shook his head.

"If it's okay with you, I'd rather just stop here for tonight. I think I understand it."

Gabriel looked disappointed but agreed. Blaine was relieved. He knew that he should have stayed longer and studied more, but he was stressing out about economics too much. He hated to admit it, but thankfully he ran into Thomas. Otherwise, he would have never known about the exam and would have surely failed it.

The rest of the weekend passed too quickly for Blaine. Too busy studying, he skipped dinner and would have skipped brunch, had Mike not dragged him along. Since he was still beating himself up, Blaine made a side-trip to get ice cream. Once again, the trick worked. Despite feeling like crap for a few hours, Blaine felt more confident by the end of Sunday night. He wasn't sure that he could ace the exam but he was fairly positive he would at least pass the exam.

At least, until the actual test was right in front of him. Blaine stared down at the packet of papers blankly. Scanning the first few questions, he began to panic. He didn't remember anything.

An hour later, Blaine stumbled out of the room, mind numb. Thomas was waiting outside of the classroom. He had finished well before Blaine.

"Well?" he asked. Blaine just stared at the boy.

"I need a cup of coffee," he stated, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Thomas laughed.

"How'd it go?" he asked. Blaine shrugged.

"Fine, I guess."

Actually, it had gone horrible. The test hadn't gotten any better after the first few questions. Blaine could only hope that he had managed to get the essay questions right. That was his only hope for passing this test.

As Blaine headed straight for the nearest coffee shop, Thomas trailed after him, yattering on about the exam. Blaine could feel a headache coming on.

"I'm sorry, Thomas, but I don't really feel like talking about it," Blaine finally snapped as he picked up his usual order.

Thomas blinked and then shrugged.

"Okay," he agreed. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Blaine blinked at the abrupt and random change of conversation.

"Why?" he asked. Thomas shrugged.

"If you did, I figured we could double date," he replied. "My girlfriend has always wanted to go on one."

Blaine had never been so relieved to be single.

"No, I don't," he answered. Thomas looked disappointed but Blaine couldn't bring himself to care.

"You should try and find one," Thomas said, clapping a hand on Blaine's shoulder as Thomas stood to leave. Blaine cringed at the contact and made a noncommittal noise.

"See you later," Thomas said, grabbing his bag. Blaine gave a half-hearted wave and watched the blond-haired boy leave. Once Thomas was out of sight, Blaine let his head fall forward and hit the table with a soft thud. He could already tell that it was going to be a horrible day.

Blaine felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Without looking at the number, he hit the accept button and held it up to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Blaine!"

Blaine raised his head off the table as he recognized Wes's voice.

"Wes?" he asked.

"Who else?" Wes replied. "How's it going? Enjoying VCU?"

Blaine groaned.

"I'm pretty sure I failed a test this morning," he grumbled. "What about you? How's Wisconsin?"

Wes laughed on the other end of the phone. "Pretty crazy but it's fun. What's this about you failing a test."

Blaine sighed.

"It was for economics. I forgot about it until this weekend."

"Economics? I thought you wanted to be a doctor."

Blaine groaned and wished that this conversation was happening in person so he could punch Wes in the shoulder. He wished that his friend had never seen that video.

"I don't know what I want, still. None of my classes are interesting enough for me to make it into a career."

"You'll find something," Wes reassured his friend. "Anyway, I have to go but you know what we need to do?"

"Hm?" Blaine asked.

"We need to schedule a Skype session soon. All the Warblers that graduated. Doesn't it sound like fun?"

"It does," Blaine agreed. "And speaking of Warblers that graduated, you'll never guess who's here on campus."

"Sebastian?"

Blaine stared at his phone in slight surprise. How had Wes known?

"How did you know?" he voiced his internal question.

"He mentioned it once or twice. Have you been hanging out?"

Blaine sighed.

"He may or may not be currently blackmailing me," he replied.

"What?" Blaine debated about explaining but, looking around the coffee shop, he spotted a couple of classmates.

"Long story," he told Wes. "I'll call you sometime when no one else is around."

"That bad?" Wes sounded sympathetic.

"You have no idea," Blaine muttered. "Talk to you later."

"I'll be expecting that call," Wes informed him before hanging up. Blaine put his phone away, feeling slightly better. His day was looking a lot brighter. Wes would have an idea of what to do about his situation involving Kurt and Sebastian. All Blaine had to do was get Mike out of the room for an hour or two.


	12. The Phone Call

Getting Mike out of the room required absolutely no effort on Blaine's part. He had been stressing over it for the past few hours but he had forgotten a tiny little fact—Mike was a dance major. Therefore, he would naturally go to the practice rooms to practice.

"Meet you somewhere for dinner?" Mike said as he prepared to leave. Blaine nodded absently.

"Have fun," he said. Mike made a face. Practice was anything but fun. Dance was hard work but he wouldn't complain too much. He loved to dance and it was better than doing something he hated. He would have to text Tina again and thank her for telling his dad about his dreams.

"See you later," Mike called as he pulled out his phone.

Blaine waited a few minutes after the door shut to make sure that Mike wouldn't come back for something he had forgotten before pulling out his own phone and dialing Wes's number.

"Hey Blaine," Wes answered.

"Hey," Blaine replied. "Are you alone?"

"For once," Wes said. "My roommate's out with his girlfriend. What's up?"

Blaine sighed.

"I don't know what happened," he said. "Things are getting out of control and I don't know how to stop it and everything's going to blow up in my face and then no one will want to be around me and—"

"Breathe," Wes cut off the ranting teenager. "Start from the beginning."

Blaine took a deep breath and tried to think of where to begin. It was easy enough to say the beginning but Blaine wasn't sure where the beginning was in this case. Was it when he first met Thomas at orientation or when he first met Kurt? After a few seconds, Blaine decided to tell Wes everything from the moment he met Kurt.

"The first day I moved in, I met a guy," he said.

"A guy?" Wes asked, interest peaking.

"Yeah," Blaine replied. "He told me he was from Lima and I meant to tell him I was from Westerville but as soon as my mouth opened, I said I was from Chicago."

"Why would you do that?" Wes asked. "There's nothing wrong with Westerville."

"I don't know why," Blaine said in frustration. "It just happened. When he asked about my Ohioan accent, I kept going and said that I originally lived in Ohio but moved to Chicago for high school. I don't know why it happened."

Wes sighed but figured that there was more to the story.

"What happened next?" he asked.

"He has a boyfriend," Blaine said.

"So?" Wes was wondering where this was going.

"His boyfriend is Sebastian," Blaine explained further. There were a few seconds of silence as Wes tried to comprehend.

"Sebastian as in Sebastian from Dalton?" Wes asked. " _Our_  Sebastian?"

Blaine grimaced at Wes's phrasing but sighed.

"That Sebastian," he confirmed.

"What happened when you two ran into each other?"

"Kurt told him I was from Chicago before we could say anything to each other."

"Is Kurt the boy?" Wes asked.

"Yeah," Blaine replied.

"And?" Wes prodded. Blaine sighed again.

"Kurt left us alone to go look for someone and Sebastian basically threatened to use the information as blackmail."

"Sounds like him," Wes muttered. "Is that all or is there more?"

"That's all," Blaine decided, no more information to tell Wes coming to mind. "I want to come clean but it's too late. What should I do?"

Wes was silent for a few minutes as he tried to think of solutions.

"I honestly don't know," he admitted. "You could tell everyone the truth and hope for the best."

"Or?" Blaine asked, hoping there was a different solution.

"Or you could try and distance yourself from the situation. Stop hanging out with Kurt and maybe Sebastian will leave you alone?" Wes suggested, though he sounded like he didn't believe the solution would work. "Or you could just do nothing."

"There's nothing else I can do?" Blaine asked desperately.

"I don't know," Wes repeated. "I've never been in a situation like this before. Trust you to get into a situation this fucked up. Can't leave you alone for a day."

Blaine knew Wes was trying to tease him but his stomach still twisted uncomfortably. He didn't say anything.

"So how are your classes?" Wes asked, changing the subject.

"Miserable," Blaine admitted. "Especially economics and calculus."

"You're going for business, right?" Wes asked.

"That's what my parents want," Blaine said dully.

"But not what you want," Wes realized. "Blaine—"

"Please don't start," Blaine interrupted before Wes could go on one of his rants. "I know I should do what I want but I don't know what I want."

"Are you liking your other classes?" Wes asked.

"Not really," Blaine responded, running a hand through his hair. "I mean, they're not as bad as economics or calculus but…" he trailed off.

"You don't see yourself as making a living with a degree in those subjects," Wes finished.

"Exactly," Blaine agreed. "How are your classes going?"

"Large, but it's Madison," Wes said. "I love State Street. You should come up sometime so I can show you all the fun places to hang out."

"Are the parties as crazy as they say?" Blaine asked. Wes laughed.

"They have the police block off State Street for Halloween," he said.

"I'll take that as a yes then," Blaine said, a grin creeping up on his face.

For the next hour or so, Blaine and Wes just chatted about whatever came to mind. Blaine felt the tension in his body slipping away. Pretty soon he had forgotten all about his problems.

Blaine jumped as he heard the doorknob turning. He eyed Mike curiously as his roommate entered the room.

"I gotta go," he told Wes. "Talk to you later."

"Start enjoying life!" Wes shouted through the phone as Blaine hung up. Mike grinned.

"I was wondering why you didn't answer my text. I figured you were sleeping," Mike said. Blaine glanced at his phone. Sure enough there were a few unread texts. One from Mike, one from Kurt and one from Gabriel.

"Sorry," Blaine apologized. "Did you want to go eat?"

"Just let me take some ibuprofen," Mike said. "My head's killing me."

"There's some in my desk if you can't find yours," Blaine said, knowing that Mike had probably lost his again. The boy was great when it came to keeping classwork organized but was hopeless when it came to finding anything in the room. Mike immediately went for Blaine's desk.

Mike pulled open the desk drawer and grabbed the small bottle of ibuprofen. His hand jostled another box of medicine and Mike's eyes narrowed when he noticed that it read  _Lactaid._ Wasn't that to help for people with lactose allergies? That would explain why Blaine kept getting sick. The curly-haired teen was practically addicted to ice cream. But why wouldn't he take medicine that would help prevent him from getting sick?

Mike pulled out the bottle of painkillers and shut the drawer. Chances were that Blaine had just forgotten it was there. The dance major pushed it out of his mind.

"Ready to go?" he asked Blaine once he had swallowed a few of the small, red pills.

"Just let me reply to this," Blaine said, grabbing his jacket and texting at the same time.

"Kurt?" Mike asked hopefully. Blaine shook his head.

"Gabriel," he said. "Wants to study for Chemistry."

"You two study together a lot," Mike said. Blaine looked up from his phone and stared at Mike blankly.

"So?" he asked.

"Are you sure that just studying is going on?" Mike asked. Blaine continued to stare at Mike blankly. Then it hit him.

"Oh! No! No, that's not happening," Blaine practically yelped. "It's just studying."

Mike shrugged his shoulders, as if he wasn't sure he believed Blaine.

"Okay," he said. Blaine's face colored.

"How did you even know I was—?" he asked.

"I've seen how you look at Kurt," Mike replied. "I wasn't sure until just now, though. It was just a guess.

Blaine's face reddened even further.

"Nothing's happening," he replied. "Let's go get something to eat."


	13. The Week Before Thanksgiving

The next few weeks passed calmly for Blaine. He finally felt like he was starting to balance out his life. Surprisingly, Kurt or Mike hadn't found out anything about his lies and Sebastian had kept quiet. Blaine was strangely grateful for that.

Before Blaine knew it, it was the week before Thanksgiving. He just had to get through this week and then he was skipping classes on Monday and Tuesday to fly home for a longer break. Amazingly no tests had been scheduled in the two days before Thanksgiving break. Of course, his professors probably knew that it was pointless to expect their students to even show up, let alone focus enough for an exam.

Blaine was excited for Thanksgiving break. He was excited to go home and actually see his friends, not just hear from them over the phone and Facebook. David had called earlier and informed him of the Warblers get-together that was happening the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Everyone was going to be there.

Unfortunately, everyone included Sebastian. Initially Blaine had been concerned that Sebastian would bring Kurt along (something Sebastian would definitely do, just to screw Blaine over) but then David had informed him that he had made it so the party would be Warblers only. No significant others allowed, unless they had been in the Warblers.

Blaine could have kissed David. However, since David was over a hundred miles away and one hundred percent straight, Blaine just stuck to thanking his friend over and over.

The curly-haired college student as his phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Hello?" he asked, not looking to see who it was.

"Hey Blainey!" Blaine grimaced at the nickname and how inebriated his friend sounded. Saturday night equaled a drunken Wes. This wasn't the first call like this he had received.

"Hey Wes," he replied, flipping to the next place in his book and turning his phone onto speaker. "What's going on?"

Wes hiccupped on the other side of the phone.

"I just wanted to let you know that I think you're an amazing person," Wes said. Blaine hummed and resumed reading. He let Wes ramble on for the next few minutes, occasionally humming or making noises that made it seem like he was paying attention.

"—if I had been you, I would have kicked his ass a long time ago."

Blaine tuned into the conversation.

"Kicked whose ass?" he asked, now wondering what he had missed.

"Sebastian's!" Wes shouted into the phone. "I wouldn't have put up with him blackmailing me! I would have kicked his ass!"

Blaine sighed.

"Go to bed, Wes," he said. "You're drunk."

"You should go kick his ass!" Wes encouraged. "Do it now!"

"I'm not going to kick anyone's ass," Blaine growled into the phone. He jumped slightly as the doorknob jingled. Mike was returning from practicing.

"Kick that blackmailer's ass!" Wes yelled just as Mike opened the door. Blaine's eyes widened as Mike stared at him in concerned surprise.

"Good-bye Wes," he snapped before hanging up. Blaine did his best not to make eye contact with Mike. Hopefully Mike wouldn't mention anything but having lived with the boy for a few months now, he knew that it was a high hope.

"Blackmailer?" Mike asked as he set down his bag. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Wes is drunk," he stated. Mike had dealt with a drunken Wes before. Blaine had refused to pick up his phone one night, knowing Wes would be drunk and the former Warbler had decided to call Mike. Blaine had still never gotten an answer as to  _how_  Wes had known Mike's phone number.

"Don't read into it," Blaine warned.

"But  _is_  someone blackmailing you?" Mike asked. Blaine shrugged.

"It's complicated," he said.

"Complicated?" Mike asked. Blaine didn't respond.

"Is it Sebastian?" Mike asked a few minutes later. Blaine's head jerked up in surprise and his book fell to the floor.

"Wha—no!" he said quickly. Mike didn't look like he believed him. Blaine continued to protest but Mike continued to stare at him with that same expression until Blaine trailed off.

"Maybe," he admitted grudgingly. "But it's not exactly blackmailing. It's…" Blaine searched for the right word. "Complicated. Why'd you guess Sebastian anyway?"

Mike shrugged.

"It seemed like a thing he would do. Plus, ever since you met the guy, you've acted sort of weird around him and Kurt," he explained.

Blaine's face reddened. He didn't think he had been so obvious. If Mike knew that, did he suspect something was up with Blaine's other lies? Blaine sincerely hoped not.

"Why did you never say anything?" Mike asked.

"Because there's nothing no one can do," Blaine said with a shrug of his shoulders. "And it's not like he's making me do anything I don't want to."

Mike snorted.

"There's plenty that people can do," he informed Blaine. "And his threats are preventing you from hanging out with Kurt."

Not exactly but Blaine wasn't going to correct his roommate. He wouldn't even know how to begin explaining it to Mike.

"You should tell Kurt about this," Mike suggested.

"Why?" Blaine asked. "So he can break up with Sebastian? Sebastian can still blackmail me."

"But not about Kurt," Mike said with a frown. "And I'm sure you and Kurt will both be happier."

"I'm not telling Kurt just to break them up," Blaine replied. "I may have a minor crush on Kurt—" Mike snorted at that but Blaine continued, "—but I'm not that catty."

Mike sighed.

"I just don't think you should let Sebastian get away with something like this," he said. Blaine didn't reply.

The next week passed quickly for Blaine and soon it was Monday morning and Blaine was waiting for Kurt to text him so they could leave. Kurt had offered to drive him to the airport so Blaine would save on cab fare. Blaine had tried to decline but Kurt wouldn't let him.

"See you next week," Blaine said as his phone buzzed.

"Have fun!" Mike called as Blaine grabbed his bags.

"Excited to go home?" Kurt asked as Blaine opened up the door to the passenger side street.

"You have no idea," Blaine replied as he slid in. "It'll be nice to get away from here for a while. What about you? You're leaving for Ohio tomorrow, right?"

Kurt nodded.

"It should be okay," he said. "The entire glee club is getting together to support the current members. They're performing at Sectionals against the Warblers. Sebastian and I have a bet going on about who will win."

"Oh," Blaine said, turning to look out the window and hoping that Kurt hadn't noticed his panicked expression. He had been planning to go to Sectionals to support the Warblers but now that he knew Kurt would be there, that would be out of the question.

"What are your plans?" Kurt asked. Blaine shrugged.

"Nothing special. I'm just planning on getting together with some friends and avoiding my brother at all costs."

"Avoiding your brother?" Kurt asked. Blaine gave Kurt an awkward grin.

"He has this thing where every Thanksgiving he tries to convince me and my cousins to do these weird food challenges. Last year it was the cinnamon challenge and the year before that, he mixed all the leftovers into a smoothie and tried to get us to drink it."

"That's disgusting," Kurt said with a grimace.

"Yeah," Blaine agreed. "He also has a tendency to pry open your mouth when you're sleeping and pour it down your throat if you refuse."

"I'm glad my step-brother never tried anything like that," Kurt said. "I'm pretty sure I would have killed him."

Blaine laughed.

"Trust me, I tried. However, Cooper's a lot bigger than me."

Kurt snorted and Blaine mockingly glared at him.

"It really doesn't take much," Kurt teased.

"Oh, hush you," he said. "I was the tallest person in my class until third grade."

The pair shared a laugh.

"Have a good break," Kurt wished as he parked in the unloading zone at the airport.

"You too," Blaine said as he grabbed his bags.

"Text me when you get home," Kurt reminded Blaine. "You're lucky to have gotten a direct flight to Chicago. I have to go through Denver for some reason."

"Yeah, I'll text you when I get there," he said. "Have fun at the Sectionals competition."

Blaine waited until Kurt drove off before releasing a heavy sigh. He had purposely found a flight with a connection through Chicago before going to Ohio. His parents hadn't been thrilled with his flight choices but they had dropped it once Blaine had told them that he was traveling there with a friend who was afraid of flying alone. In the end it had all worked out but Blaine was getting sick of it. He felt like he was constantly lying.

Blaine didn't have much time to linger on it. Almost as soon as he had gotten through security, his plane had begun boarding. Within the hour they were in the air.

The connection in Chicago was short. Blaine was surprised that he wasn't forced to run to catch his plane. It wasn't until he was on his next flight before he remembered to turn on his phone and text Kurt and Mike.

 _Landed_ , he texted before turning off his phone again. Simple and vague enough that they would think that he had made it home. No mention of a connecting flight whatsoever.

Blaine's mother was waiting for him at the baggage claim when he landed in Ohio.

"How are you, darling?" she asked.

"Good," Blaine responded. "How are you? And where's Dad? I thought he was coming with you."

Mrs. Anderson smiled softly.

"Work caught up with your father," she replied. "He'll be home in time for dinner, though. I'm making all your favorites."

Right on cue, Blaine's stomach grumbled. He grinned at his mother, who affectionately rolled her eyes.

"Come on, you," she said. "Let's get into the car and then you can tell me all about your classes."

Blaine grabbed his duffel bag from the carousel and trailed after his mother. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. Almost immediately, he was greeted with a stream of text messages, most of them from Kurt.

_Happy to be home?_

_How's Chicago?_

_Hello?_

_Don't tell me you fell asleep already._

Blaine pursed his lips as he debated about what to do. Would he just keep ignoring the messages? Or could he continue lying?

Within minutes his decision was made.

_Sorry, fell asleep on the way home. Chicago's great._


	14. The Talk

"So how's the college life?"

Blaine looked up. Cooper flopped on the end of his bed and gave him an expectant look. It was the day after Thanksgiving, which had just been Blaine, his parents, Cooper and his fiancée, and his grandparents on his mother's side. His father's side of the family was traveling for the holidays. Anderson Thanksgivings had never been particularly large but this one was smaller than normal.

The younger Anderson shrugged.

"Okay, I guess," he told his brother, whose face fell.

"Just okay?" Cooper asked.

"I'm not particularly fond of any of my classes," Blaine said.

"There's always a few classes," Cooper agreed. "But I'm sure next semester's classes will be better."

"Not if they're more business classes," Blaine grumbled. Cooper gave him a concerned look.

"Something on your mind, squirt?" he asked. Blaine gave a heavy sigh and let his head fall forward.

"I hate my classes," he admitted. "I hate everything having to do with business. I don't  _want_  to be a business major, Coop."

"Have you told Mom and Dad?" Cooper asked. Blaine shook his head.

"I can't," he said.

"Why not?" Cooper asked. Blaine stared at him in disbelief.

"Why not? They're already disappointed that I'm gay. Just because of that, they think that I won't have the  _perfect life_ ," Blaine snapped, making air quotations around the phrase "perfect life".

"You still buy into that?" Cooper asked. "Blaine, there's no such thing as the perfect life. I know what I said at the graduation party but that's not the most important thing in life."

"Easy for you to say," Blaine replied bitterly. "You've already got the perfect life."

Cooper sighed.

"That's not true, Blaine," he said. "My life isn't perfect."

Blaine gave a derisive snort.

"Yeah right," he grumbled. "You already have the girlfriend and the degree and you've practically got the job. You just need the family and then you'll be Mom and Dad's  _perfect_  son."

Cooper sighed again. Apparently this had been building in his brother for quite some time.

"Blaine, it's different for you. The standards aren't as high for you. I'm the oldest. If you think the pressure for you is bad, just imagine what it was like for me."

"Well, you didn't have to set the standards so high," Blaine grumbled, burying his face in a pillow. "I'm never going to live up to that."

"You don't have to," Cooper informed his brother. "Just talk to Mom and Dad and do what you want to do. You don't have to try and be me, no matter how awesome I am."

Blaine lifted his face out of the pillow and glared at his brother, who had attempted to turn the last part of the talk into a joke.

"Not the time, Cooper," he said. His brother's face fell.

"Dinner time!" Mrs. Anderson called up the stairs. "Come on boys!"

Cooper got up off of Blaine's bed and headed for the door.

"Think about what I said," he told his younger brother. "Don't let me or Mom and Dad define your life."

"So what are your boys' plans for the rest of the night?" Mr. Anderson asked halfway through dinner, which consisted mainly of leftovers from the night before.

"Donna and I are going to see a movie," Cooper said, grabbing his fiancée's hand under the table. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson looked over at Blaine, who was forced to finish chewing and swallow his food.

"The Warblers are getting together to celebrate them winning Sectionals and to catch up. I won't be home until late," Blaine said. Mrs. Anderson frowned.

"Will there be alcohol?" she asked. Blaine shook his head.

"Of course not, Mom," he replied. "It's at David's house and his parents will be home."

A tiny little lie. David's parents were out of town for the night, visiting family. David had volunteered to watch the pets for the night, giving them a venue for the party.

"Text us when you get there," Blaine's mother warned. "And text when you leave."

Blaine nodded absently. He tried to finish dinner as quickly as possible. His goal for the rest of break was to avoid his parents and Cooper for as much as possible so they couldn't ask him anymore about college and classes. He had nearly broken down in front of Cooper and didn't want to come that close again.

"Wes is picking me up in a few minutes," Blaine told his parents as he finished eating. "I'll see you in the morning."

He was up the stairs before anyone could reply.

"Excited?" Wes asked when he picked Blaine up fifteen minutes later.

"Glad to get out of the house," Blaine admitted. "I feel so—"

"Trapped?" Wes asked. "I've been feeling the same way. My parents have been getting on my case for partying the entire time I've been home."

Blaine laughed. He had met Wes's parents. He knew how intense they could be, especially when they weren't pleased by their son's actions.

"Have they gotten a few drunk phone calls as well?" he asked. Wes glared in Blaine's direction before turning his eyes back on the road.

Blaine jumped as his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Who was calling him? He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and squinted as the light lit up the darkened car.

_Kurt._

"Hey," Blaine said as he answered his phone.

"Hey!" Kurt said. "Happy late Thanksgiving! I meant to call yesterday but things were a bit hectic."

"Happy late Thanksgiving," Blaine replied. "It's okay. What's it like to be home?"

"It's nice," Kurt said. "Though everything thinks I'm going to break down in tears at any moment. That's irritating."

"Why do they think that?" Blaine asked, eyes narrowing.

"Oh, that's right. You wouldn't have heard yet. I guess I figured Mike would tell you," Kurt said.

"Tell me what?" Blaine asked.

"Sebastian and I broke up. After the Sectionals competition," Kurt stated bluntly. Blaine's eyes widened.

"What? Why?"

"Mike told me what he was doing to you. I wanted to apologize for that. I honestly had no idea."

Blaine's free hand tightened into a fist. Why had Mike told Kurt? Mike knew that Blaine didn't want Kurt to know.

"It's okay," he said. "I asked Mike to not tell you, though."

"Don't be mad at him," Kurt said. "I confronted him about it. He was being hostile toward Sebastian all night and I kind of lost it. Everything sort of spilled out after that."

"You didn't have to break up with him," Blaine said with a frown.

"Yes, I did," Kurt replied. "He blackmailed one of my friends. Blackmailing's never okay. He had no right."

"Well, I hope it didn't ruin your break," Blaine said. Kurt laughed.

"Trust me, I'm fine. It was bound to happen sometime soon. We've been on the rocks since the beginning of the semester. Anyway, how's your break going?"

"Okay, I guess," Blaine admitted. "I'm on my way to a party right now."

"Oh!" Kurt sounded shocked. "I'll talk to you later then." He hung up before Blaine could say anything else. Blaine put his phone away with a sigh. He was excited that Kurt and Sebastian had broken up but at the same time he wondered what that meant for him in the future. Sebastian was bound to be pissed, especially if he knew that Blaine was the reason behind the break-up. The other Warbler had never been the best of losers.

"Who was that?" Wes asked.

"Kurt," Blaine replied, staring out the window.

"Kurt? Is this the guy—?" Blaine nodded. Wes whistled.

"I met him last night," Wes said. "He seemed okay. Couldn't understand how he and Sebastian ever started dating, though."

"They broke up," Blaine informed his friend. "After the competition apparently."

Wes whistled lowly.

"I wonder what Sebastian's going to be like tonight," he muttered.

They needn't have worried. Wes and Blaine were the last to arrive to David's house. It was a typical Warbler party, filled with junk food, karaoke, and jumping on furniture to avoid getting hit with water balloons.

Sebastian never showed up.


	15. The Hope

For the first couple days after returning to the VCU campus after Thanksgiving, Blaine was constantly on edge. He kept thinking that Sebastian was going to show up and blame him for everything that happened between him and Kurt and reveal Blaine's secret in a form of revenge.

None of that happened. Kurt began hanging out with Mike and Blaine more, not mentioning a word about Sebastian. Blaine didn't even know if Kurt had seen Sebastian since the break-up.

Of course, that didn't erase the worry that Sebastian might be planning something big but Blaine couldn't worry about things that he didn't know about.

He also couldn't complain about the increased time Kurt was spending over at his room. He knew he shouldn't enjoy it as much as he did but Blaine couldn't help himself. Kurt had the ability to brighten up his day, despite how cheesy that sounded.

Mike had noticed the increased amount of time Blaine and Kurt were spending together as well. At every opportunity he was pointing out how much Blaine was smiling or how Kurt seemed happier than he had been all semester. If Blaine hadn't known any better, he would have thought that his roommate was trying to play matchmaker.

"Oh, come on, Blaine. You can't tell me that nothing is happening between you two," Mike said. "You're studying together, despite not even being in the same classes."

Blaine shrugged.

"We're just friends," he told his roommate. "And we're not actually studying together. We just met up at the library and decided that it was better to study with someone else, rather than alone so we weren't bored out of our minds."

"Uh-huh," Mike said. "That's exactly what happened. I didn't realize that studying together meant grabbing coffee together afterwards as well."

Blaine's cheeks reddened.

"It was on the way," he protested. "He was thirsty and I was tired after stuffing my brain with Calculus." Mike gave him a disbelieving look.

"Sure," he said. "And then it became a regular thing to get coffee between classes?"

"Our class times match up and it's not my fault that he likes coffee just as much as I do."

"I don't think anyone likes coffee as much as you and Kurt," Mike muttered. He opened up his mouth to bring up another point when a familiar knock was heard. Mike laughed slightly at the excited look upon Blaine's face.

"I'll let you answer that," he said and opened up one of the books he was supposed to be reading for his English class. Blaine rolled his eyes and got up to unlock the door.

"Hey," he greeted a very damp and unhappy looking Kurt. "Is it a little wet out?"

Kurt scowled.

"It's rained, sleeted, and snowed so far this morning along with combinations of all three. I hate precipitation," he growled. Blaine laughed.

"All that's left s hail and for the sun to come out," he pointed out. Kurt threw his materials on the empty floor by the doorway.

"Sunshine is not a form of precipitation, Blaine," he pointed out.

"The sun can precipitate its rays," Blaine replied with a smile. Mike snorted and Kurt chuckled at the comment.

"Some sunshine would be appreciated right now," he agreed.

"What brings you over?" Mike asked, looking up from his book.

"Your place was closer than the library," Kurt stated. "I didn't want to get any wetter. My bag isn't exactly waterproof and I need my books for classes, unfortunately." Kurt took a seat on the floor and pulled his bag over to him. Blaine shuffled out of the way.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked. "We have some instant coffee."

Kurt's nose wrinkled at the thought.

"No, thanks," he said. "That stuff is disgusting."

"It's Mike's," Blaine said wryly.

"Of course it is," Kurt said with a laugh.

"Hey, don't make fun of the instant coffee," Mike warned with a smile. "There will be one morning when the entire city runs out of coffee when you desperately need some and I won't give you any."

Kurt and Blaine shared a laugh. Blaine's phone vibrated with a new text message and Blaine hurried to read it.

_Want to meet to study?_

_-Gabriel_

Blaine should have expected the text message. Every Friday and Saturday, without fail, Gabriel texted him about studying, whether there was an exam or not. Blaine felt bad declining but these study sessions were getting a bit too weird. Gabriel seemed more focused on talking than actually studying and a couple of times he had texted around dinnertime and had offered to buy pizza.

 _No thanks. I have some company and it's too wet to go anywhere,_ he texted back with a small frown. After a few seconds of deliberation, he tacked on at the end,  _Maybe later?_

"Gabriel?" Mike asked knowingly. Blaine nodded absently.

"Who's Gabriel again?" Kurt asked.

"A guy from some of my classes," Blaine replied. "He just wanted to know if I wanted to study with him."

" _Study_ ," Mike emphasized.

"Shut up," Blaine mumbled. Kurt looked between the two.

"Mike thinks he has a crush on me," Blaine explained at his lost look. "Which is an utterly ridiculous idea."

"I don't know," Kurt said, pulling out his books. "It doesn't seem so ridiculous to me."

Mike gave Blaine a pointed look at Kurt's words before going back to his reading. Blaine's eyes widened. Did that mean—no. It was best not to linger on that comment. If Blaine took it to mean something it didn't, he would only get hurt.


	16. The Ride Home

"See you in a few weeks!"

Blaine turned and waved to Mike before shouldering his last bag and heading in the direction of the car, where Cooper was waiting for him.

"Is that it?" Cooper asked. Blaine nodded. "Seriously?" Cooper asked again. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Some of us don't need to pack a billion things for just a few weeks. I still have things at home," he said as he threw the duffel bag into the backseat, where the rest of his bags were.

"But this is barely anything," Cooper pointed out as he slid into the car.

"I'm flying back," Blaine reminded his brother. "Everything I bring needs to fit into two suitcases and a carry-on." The youngest Anderson tugged on the door handle and scowled at his brother when he realized it was still locked.

"Cooper…" he warned. Cooper smiled and began to drive. Blaine cursed under his breath and trailed after his brother's slowly driving car. He really didn't want to deal with his brother's antics at the moment. He had just gotten done with his last final and his brain felt fried. He just wanted to get on the road so he could numb his brain. It would be the first time he had gotten a break in the past week. Whoever came up with finals week was a sick and twisted person.

"Cooper, come on! Stop being such a dork. It's cold and I want to go home!" he called. Cooper laughed and stopped the car. Blaine tugged on the door handle again, only to find it still locked. His brother unlocked it and just as Blaine attempted to open the door, promptly locked it again. Blaine scowled and called his brother a few choice words. Cooper looked shocked at the crudeness of it and promptly unlocked the door. Blaine waited a few seconds until it became clear that Cooper was done with his tricks.

"You're a jerk," Blaine grumbled as he slid into the passenger seat.

"Since when did Mr. Dapper start swearing?" Cooper asked. Blaine glared at him.

"Side effect of college," he mumbled. "If I remember right, you started swearing around the time you went to college as well." Cooper opened up his mouth but Blaine cut him off. "Don't deny it."

"Wasn't going to," Cooper responded. "I was just going to say that the swearing didn't start in college. It started in high school."

Blaine shook his head and tried not to smile at the proud tone in his brother's voice. Typical Cooper.

"So excited to be on vacation?" Cooper asked as they began driving away. Blaine nodded.

"Finals were awful," he groaned. "I thought finals at Dalton were bad but these were worse. I didn't even know that was possible. Why do they cram all the finals into one week?"

Cooper laughed at his complaints.

"And you've chosen your classes for next semester?" he asked. Blaine frowned and gave a small nod.

"They're just some gen. eds." he said. "I really don't want to take any more business classes."

"Then switch your major?" Cooper suggested. Blaine sighed heavily.

"To what?" he asked, resting his head against the window. "I have no idea about what I want to major in or what I want to do after college."

"What about music? You always liked singing, right?" Cooper asked. Blaine scoffed at the idea.

"Dad would never go for that. Besides, I don't think I would want to make music into a career. It's just something I liked doing for fun in high school. I don't have time for it anymore." Unless it was in the car with Kurt. Then Blaine had all the time in the world to sing.

Cooper sighed. He loved his baby brother but sometimes he could be so difficult. It was slightly aggravating.

"What classes did you find interesting in high school?" he asked. Blaine shrugged.

"History, I guess. Social studies."

Cooper gave his brother a small smile.

"Blaine Anderson, the history professor," he said lightly. "That has a nice ring to it."

Blaine rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile.

"Of course Mom and Dad would give me a name that fits something like that," he mumbled. Cooper laughed.

"That's true," he admitted. "There's a Mr. Anderson in almost every book about school you read. Except for maybe Harry Potter."

Blaine cracked up laughing.

"Except for Harry Potter," he agreed, once he had regained his breath. "But there's no way Dad would agree to me studying history, of all things."

"It doesn't matter what Dad wants," Cooper informed his brother. "Do what you think will make  _you_  happy."

Blaine sighed.

"What Dad wants  _does_ matter," he said. "Considering he's paying for my education and all that."

Right. Cooper had forgotten about that. And whenever their father paid for something, he made sure that he got what he wanted.

"Yeah…" he replied. "Too bad you suck at lying. Otherwise you could just tell Dad you're taking different classes than what you actually are."

Blaine scoffed, ignoring the barb about his lying abilities. Apparently he was a better liar than Cooper believed, otherwise he would have been caught by now by either Kurt or Mike.

"And have to explain all that when I graduate from college as a history major, not a business major as he believes? That would be a fun graduation party," he replied.

"It would be worth it to see the look on Dad's face, though," Cooper said. Blaine forced a smile on his face and gave a weak laugh. He didn't want to admit it but Cooper had actually given him an idea.

And naturally it involved more lies.

Lovely.


	17. Between Brothers

"So, how's school going?" Blaine glanced up from his plate to the place where his grandfather was sitting. It was the day before Christmas Eve and although he would see his grandparents the next day, his mother had insisted on having a family dinner that night as well.

"Fine," he said vaguely, not offering any more information. His parents would do that for him.

"Blaine managed to get a three-point-five G.P.A. this semester," his mother gushed. Blaine shrugged his shoulders and returned to playing with the food on his plate. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry.

"Well done," his grandfather said with a nod. Blaine forced a small smile on his face. He still wasn't sure how he had managed to get such good grades. He supposed it had something to do with all the extra credit he had received from doing various projects and assignments and showing up to class when most of his classmates didn't. It certainly wasn't because of his test scores.

Blaine shoved the vegetables to the side of his plate as conversation resumed. Occasionally a question or comment was directed at him but for the most part Blaine remained silent.

"What's your major again, Blaine?" Blaine's head jerked up at the question. He glanced at his grandmother and opened his mouth to speak but only a strangled sound came out. The youngest Anderson awkwardly cleared his throat and tried again.

"I'm currently undecided—" he began and his father cut him off.

"But Blaine was thinking about business," Mr. Anderson said, giving his youngest son a disapproving look at the term "undecided." They had had this conversation on the phone many times before and Blaine always promised to declare a major but never ended up actually doing so. Blaine nodded and returned his attention to the food on his plate. Only about half of it was eaten. With a silent sigh, he began pushing it around on his plate to make it seem like he was eating.

"Are you feeling okay, honey?" his mother asked, noticing the remaining food on his plate. "You haven't been eating very much since you've gotten home."

"I'm fine," Blaine said. "I'm just not that hungry." He purposely avoided Cooper's gaze. If anyone could pick up on what was really going on, it would be Cooper. He was the only one in the family that cared enough to pay attention. It was Cooper that had noticed his initial stomach problems in the first place. If his brother hadn't, he would still be getting sick nearly every day while his parents remained oblivious. At times it still seemed like they were, especially when his mother insisted on making every dessert with chocolate or adding a little extra milk to everything.

Blaine's mother dropped the subject, just as the college student knew she would. His mother often took Blaine's words at face value, never considering that there was more that Blaine _wasn't_  saying. Cooper gave his little brother a closer look. He knew something was up but hadn't had the opportunity to talk to his brother in private.

Thankfully his opportunity came that night, after their grandparents went home and their parents had gone to bed. Blaine was settling down in the living room to watch a movie and Cooper decided to join him.

"So what's up?" he asked bluntly, stealing the remote so he wouldn't be forced to watch another one of those romantic comedies that Blaine was so fond of. Instead it looked like one of the channels was hosting a How to Train Your Dragon marathon. Perfect.

Blaine tried to feign confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Cooper laughed at the poor attempt.

"You need to work on your acting skills," he informed his brother, "but nice try. So what's wrong? You weren't eating much at dinner."

Blaine made a face.

"I wasn't hungry. Every time school got brought up, I just felt like I was going to be sick," he explained dully.

"That bad?" Cooper asked. Blaine shrugged.

"When I'm there, it's not that bad," he said. "I like my friends and having the freedom but…"

"But what?" Cooper prodded. He knew it usually took two or three times of asking a question before Blaine would fully explain what he was feeling.

"I hate my classes!" Blaine burst out. "I don't understand them but I feel like I can't tell anyone that because it's supposedly what I like to do. I miss Mom and Dad but I hate talking to them because they always ask me how classes are going or if I've finally declared my major or ask me if I'm joining any extra-curricular activities—which I haven't. Every time I talk to them, I feel like a failure."

Ah. So that was it. Clearly Blaine had been haunted by this for a while for everything to just come spilling out. Cooper offered his brother a reassuring smile.

"How did you handle it?" Blaine asked his older brother. Cooper raised an eyebrow.

"Handle what?" he asked. "The overbearing parents? Or the stress of classes? Or just everything in general."

"Everything," Blaine said with a shrug, turning his attention to the television. Cooper stretched his limbs out and tried to get comfortable. Blaine gave him a small glare as he was accidentally kicked.

"It wasn't easy at first," Cooper admitted once he had settled. "I did everything I could to be perfect and it was overwhelming at first. Then I met Amy and she taught me that I didn't have to be perfect. As long as I was happy doing what I wanted to do, I could have the life I wanted."

"You make it sound so easy," Blaine said with a grimace. Cooper gave his brother a fond smile.

"It's not," he admitted. "But I'll give you a couple of tips. Spend time with people you really enjoy being with. Get a boyfriend if you can. Ignore the calls from the parental units."

A small chuckle escaped from Blaine at his brother's suggestions.

"You didn't really ignore calls from them, did you?" he asked. Cooper laughed.

"All the time," he stated. "They would call and I would ignore it and then call them back a few days later. It made me seem busier than I actually was and it would let me talk to them on my own terms. It worked wonders and eventually they just stopped trying and let me call them whenever I wanted."

Blaine nodded. The plan made sense and he couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it earlier.

"As for the classes," Cooper continued. "Take Gen. Ed.'s. Find out what you like or wouldn't mind doing for a while after college. People always change careers, no matter what Mom and Dad say. You don't have to be like Dad."

"I'd feel like a disappointment if I wasn't, though," Blaine admitted. Cooper rolled his eyes.

"Blaine, this is going to sound horrible but it needs to be said," he began. "You're always going to feel like a disappointment if you don't take control of your own life. Stop trying to do what Mom and Dad want you to do. If you don't, you'll just keep failing. Stop being a push-over."

Blaine's eyes widened.

"I'm not a push-over," he protested. Cooper gestured at the television.

"Why did you let me change the channel then?" he asked. "Did you really not want to watch whatever it was that you had on before?"

Blaine's eyes narrowed. His brother had a point. Then, before Cooper knew what was happening, Blaine was tackling him and trying to get the remote back. The elder Anderson brother laughed and for the first time in a while, they were two normal brothers, fighting over the remote.


	18. The Horrifying Text

Blaine stared down at his phone in horror, his heart racing. No. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be.

But it was.

Blaine should have known something like this would have happened. He should have expected it. Whenever things were going well, something came back to bite him in the ass.

Blaine picked up his phone, not wanting to reread the text. However, he knew he had to reply. He just didn't know  _how_  to reply.

The college freshman read the text one more time, cringing as he did so.

_What would you say if I came and visited you in Chicago?_

It was from Kurt.

Blaine's hands trembled as he typed out his reply.

_When are you thinking?_

Kurt's reply came a minute later.

_Maybe the second week in January? I still have to talk to my dad and Carole._

The second week in January. Blaine could get to Chicago for that week. His parents would be visiting relatives on the other side of the country and Cooper would be back at work. Blaine doubted that his parents would even notice that he wasn't in Ohio.

_Let me double check. Though you might have to stay in a hotel. We don't have a lot of room at home._

Was it horrible for Blaine to hope that his reply would make Kurt reconsider? It doubted it would though.

_That's fine. It would be nice just to see someone other than my old high school friends._

Blaine sighed as he typed out one last reply to Kurt.

_I'll let you know more in the morning. It would be nice to see you, too._

As the text sent, Blaine tossed his phone on his bed. He collapsed next to it, his face burrowing into his sheets, and let out a groan of frustration.

"I hate my life," he muttered before picking up his phone once again and scrolling through his contacts to find someone he knew that had a place in Chicago. Blaine didn't have the money to spend on a hotel and he really didn't want to ask his parents for funds. They would give him the money but only after he had sat through a lecture on the importance on saving money for the future.

His parents wouldn't demand too many details on why Blaine needed to go to Chicago. If he presented it in the right light, they would even encourage him to go.

Finally Blaine was down to Wes and his cousin Edward as possible places to stay. Of the two, Wes was the best choice. His parents would believe him if he said he was visiting Wes. They would be more than skeptical if he said that he was visiting a cousin that he normally only talked to on Christmas and Easter. Blaine hit the call button.

"Blainey!" Wes answered cheerfully. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"I have a quick question for you," he said quickly. "Are you still going to be doing that short winter class you were talking about last month?"

"Yep!" Wes replied. "And I don't have to worry about my roommate hanging around. He's spending his holidays with his girlfriend and her family."

"You sound too happy about that little detail," Blaine said. Wes laughed.

"His girlfriend's a nut when they're not having sex," Wes replied. "I can't wait to hear what her family is like. Why are you asking?"

"Can I crash at your dorm for a week or so?" Blaine asked. "I need a place to stay."

"In Chicago?" Wes asked. "Why are you going to Chicago?"

Blaine sighed.

"It's complicated," he replied. Wes was silent for a minute before he responded.

"Does this have to deal with the Kurt situation?" he asked. Blaine hesitated before answering.

"Maybe," he admitted. Wes sighed in slight disappointment.

"So I'm guessing you never told him the truth," he said.

"No," Blaine said. "The time never seemed right. How do you even start a conversation like that? 'Hey, since the day we met, I've been lying to you'?"

"Go for it," Wes said. Blaine sighed. He wished that it were that easy.

"I really like this guy," he told his friend.

"Blaine, at some time you have to stop thinking with your dick—" Wes began in a sharp voice but Blaine cut him off.

"I don't like him just like that, Wes," he said. "He could be my best friend."

"I thought me and David were your best friends?" Wes said in mock protest. Blaine shook his head.

"My  _high school_  best friends," he informed the former Warbler. "Kurt can be my  _college_ best friend which is more important."

Blaine laughed as Wes shouted in mock outrage.

"I'm hurt, Blainey, I'm really hurt," Wes said.

"Well, if you didn't call me Blainey all the time, I might reconsider," Blaine replied. "So can I crash your place for a week?"

"I suppose," Wes said with a dramatic sigh. "Just remember this the next time I want to crash your place."

"You need to get to Virginia first," Blaine said. "Good luck doing that without a car."

"I'll find a way," Wes informed him. "I'll hitchhike if I have to. And I will show up at your door without notice, demanding a place to sleep. And if you don't have a place for me, I'm taking over your bed."

"I don't know if I could handle that," Blaine said, a smile now on his face. He could always count on Wes to help him forget his troubles.

Wes laughed.

"Well, you'll just have to deal," he told his friend. "Now get off the phone and go text your new best friend that he can come to Chicago to visit you. Go be your adorable self."

Blaine hung up the phone, laughing and shaking his head. Now that he had a place to stay, he just had to inform his parents that he would be in Chicago for that week to visit Wes.

They wouldn't have a problem with that.


	19. Wes and David

Kurt's visit to Chicago approached all too soon for Blaine's liking. Two days before Kurt was due to arrive in the Windy City, Blaine flew from Ohio to Chicago, where Wes was waiting for him at the airport.

"So," Wes said as he met Blaine at the baggage claim, "before you get to go and meet your loverboy—"

Blaine frowned. "He's not my anything," he said. Wes sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Sure he's not," Wes muttered. "But before he shows up, you and I are going to have a nice long chat about him with a special guest I took the liberty of calling up."

Blaine's eyes widened.

"Please tell me we're not going to a therapist," Blaine begged. Wes laughed at his friend's desperate tone.

"Don't worry your curly head, Blainey," he said. "It's not a therapist, even though I considered it. Being a compulsive liar isn't exactly a good thing."

Blaine glared at his friend as he picked up his bags.

"Don't call me that," he said. "And I'm not a compulsive liar. So who is it?"

Wes grinned as he led his friend out of the airport and toward the parking lot.

"You're going to like this," he said. "It'll be just like old times."

Blaine furrowed his brow in confusion but his confusion was quickly cleared up as he spotted the passenger in Wes's car. He nearly dropped his bags in surprise.

"Hey, Blaine!" David called out once he had rolled down the window. Blaine grinned.

"Surprise, Blainey!" Wes said. Blaine set his bags down next to the car and punched Wes's shoulder.

"Stop calling me that," he ordered and opened up the door to the backseat. He loaded his bags in and then scrambled in after them. Wes went around his car and slipped behind the wheel.

"So, here's the plan," he said as he turned the vehicle on. "We're going back to my place, ordering pizza, and watching something on Netflix while Blainey tells us everything."

"Everything?" Blaine asked skeptically.

"Everything," Wes and David replied in unison, sharing a look. Blaine sighed. It was going to be a  _long_ night.

"Ground rules," Wes continued as he pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive. "No romantic comedies," he said with a pointed look at Blaine, who grinned sheepishly. "And no horror movies," Wes continued, turning his look on David, who shrugged.

"No disgusting things on pizza, then," David countered. Blaine nodded in agreement.

"What qualifies as disgusting?" Wes asked.

"Anchovies," Blaine started.

"Ketchup," David added.

"Olives," Blaine added.

"And mushrooms," David said, finishing the list. Wes rolled his eyes and flipped off a driver who was attempting to cut him off.

"Those things aren't disgusting," he grumbled. "You two just have immature taste buds."

"You're outnumbered," Blaine pointed out. "Suck it up."

By eight o'clock, the three boys were settled in at Wes's place, devouring pizza and arguing over what they were going to watch. When it came to movies, they couldn't agree on anything. Even when they decided on a genre, there were still arguments about what they preferred in the selected genre.

Finally David grabbed the remote from Wes's hand and scrolled quickly through the movies in their selected genre for the night—Action—and picked a random movie. Blaine and Wes immediately began to protest but stopped when David glared at them.

"The movie isn't what's important," David reminded them. "We're supposed to be talking about Blaine's problems."

Blaine grimaced. He didn't need the reminder.

"Start talking, Blainey," Wes ordered as he tossed a pillow in Blaine's direction.

"Don't call me that," Blaine replied dully. "Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning is generally the best place," David stated. Blaine sighed. This was going to take a while. The hazel-eyed boy opened his mouth and the story poured forth.

Over an hour, when Blaine's rambling came to an end, Wes and David traded looks.

"Well, shit…" Wes said. David rolled his eyes.

"I know," Blaine mumbled, burying his face in a pillow. "And it's all my fault."

"True," David said. Wes glared at him and Blaine tried to bury his head deeper into the pillow.

"So, what should I do?" Blaine asked.

"I still think you should tell him the truth," Wes commented. "Sure, it'll be ugly at first but if he truly wants to be your friend  _or more_ , he'll accept your apology. If he doesn't, maybe it wasn't meant to be."

"It's not that simple," Blaine protested.

"Yes, it is," David said. "You're just making it more complicated than it needs to be. You're scared to tell him the truth because you can't admit to being a fake since Kurt believes the fake you is perfect."

Blaine looked at his friend in confusion. David sighed.

"You always try to make everyone like you and think you're perfect," he explained. "And the thought of not being perfect terrifies you, especially when it comes to your family's opinions of you. Why else are you in a major that you absolutely hate and suck at?"

Blaine grimaced. He hated when David went for the blunt approach. David's words made sense but Blaine couldn't help but hate the truth.

"You should tell Kurt the truth sooner rather than later," Wes said. "That way they won't continue and you don't have to constantly try and navigate the web of lies. It also gives him time to think and get over things before you go back to school."

That was true. Now would be the best time if Blaine was going to come clean. Still, it didn't make things easier, in Blaine's opinion.

"When does Kurt arrive again?" David asked.

"Day after tomorrow," Blaine sighed. "I'll tell him sometime this week," he decided. "Just don't expect me to do it right away."

"Sooner rather than later," Wes repeated, ruffling Blaine's hair. Blaine glared at his friend.

"I hate you," he grumbled into his pillow but he had to admit that he was feeling better. By the end of the week Kurt would know the truth and Blaine could finally be his true self around the taller boy.

 


	20. Kurt's Arrival

Blaine bounced on his feet as he watched people emerge from the terminal. His heart beat quickly and his hands were clammy. He couldn't tell if he was nervous or excited. Knowing him, it was probably a mixture of the two.

Finally Blaine spotted Kurt's head among the crowd. Kurt's plane had been late by over an hour, so it was nice to finally see the chestnut-haired boy.

"Blaine!" Kurt cried once he was in earshot, a smile lighting up his face. Blaine felt himself returning the smile.

"Hey," he greeted Kurt. "How was the flight?"

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Bumpy and loud but when are flights anything but?" he said. Blaine's grin widened.

"Well, welcome to Chicago," he said. "I should warn you, today's a little more windy than it normally is."

Kurt chuckled. "Well, I'm not surprised. I figured it was called the Windy City for a reason."

Blaine's cheeks reddened. Of course.

"Bags?" he asked. Kurt nodded.

"I've checked one," he affirmed. "So we'll need to go down to baggage claim."

"Okay," Blaine agreed. He led Kurt down to where he had picked up his own bags just a few days before.

"So how's your break been?" Blaine asked as they waited. Kurt shrugged.

"Okay," he replied. "It was nice to see my dad and step-mom again but I'm ready to be getting back to school. I didn't realize I would miss VCU this much. How's your break been?"

Blaine's mouth tightened.

"Fine," he said. Kurt gave him a curious look.

"Your tone doesn't convince me," he informed Blaine, who sighed.

"I just have some family members that I don't necessarily see eye to eye with," he admitted. Most of his family to be exact. "There's a lot of pressure at home."

"Pressure?" Kurt asked. "How so?" Blaine grimaced.

"To be perfect in everything I do," he said bitterly. "But ignore me for now. I'm sure you didn't come here to hear all about my problems."

Kurt gazed gently at Blaine.

"I like listening," he said. "Mike and I worry sometimes. You seem like you keep a lot bottled up and never let things out."

Blaine snorted. If only Kurt knew.

"I'm glad you're here," he said as Kurt grabbed his suitcase. It was packed full and bulging on the sides. "Bring enough stuff?" he laughed.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Chicago is a fashionable city, Blaine," he said. "I need to be prepared for any occasion." Blaine continued to laugh.

"So you're glad I'm here?" Kurt asked. Blaine nodded.

"There's something I wanted to talk to you about," he told Kurt. Kurt's eyes widened but he smiled.

"Oh," he replied. "That's good because there's something I wanted to talk to you about as well. I had a reason for coming up here."

"I thought that reason was to see me?" Blaine asked in a joking manner, trying to hide his inner panic. What did Kurt want to talk to him about? Did Kurt know or find out somehow?

No. He couldn't have. Blaine thought he had been careful. Though, it really shouldn't manner. Kurt would know the full truth in a few days.

Kurt chuckled with Blaine.

"That was most of the reason, but I really do have something to talk to you about," he said. Blaine gave a jerky nod.

"Tomorrow night?" he suggested. "We could go out for dinner."

Kurt's eyes lit up at the suggestion.

"I can't wait to see the restaurants here," he said. "Chicago has so many more choices than Ohio."

Blaine nodded in agreement.

"What sort of things are you interested in trying?" he asked. Kurt immediately started listing off different options. Blaine thought it was adorable how excited Kurt was getting over the choices of restaurants. It wasn't until they got in the cab when Blaine started freaking out. Tomorrow night. He would tell Kurt the entire truth tomorrow night.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked as he glanced over at Blaine. "You're pale all of a sudden."

"I'm fine," Blaine replied. "Are you sure you're fine staying in a hotel for the week? I feel horrible but—"

"It's fine, Blaine," Kurt reassured him. "I understand. Besides, I would feel awkward staying at your place. I would hate to feel like I was intruding."

Blaine gave a tiny nod. He wanted to tell Kurt that he wouldn't be intruding but Blaine himself was an intruder in Wes's flat.

Kurt and Blaine chit-chatted about little things for the rest of the cab ride to Kurt's hotel, both trying to avoid the topics that were at the forefront of their mind.

Kurt was confused as to why Blaine needed to talk to him. He wondered what it was about. Was it the same thing he wanted to talk to Blaine about? He doubted it, but it would be nice if they were. It meant that Blaine was more likely to say yes.

Kurt looked over at Blaine and immediately looked away when he saw Blaine watching him. A light blush crossed his cheeks. He nearly sighed in relief when he saw the sign for his hotel come into sight.

"Thanks for picking me up," he said as Blaine helped him get his bags out of the trunk. "I'll see you tomorrow?" Blaine nodded.

"I'll call you," he said. "I figured we could meet up sometime in the late morning. We could do all the fun touristy stuff. I haven't done any of it before."

Kurt raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Really?" he asked. "I would have thought that you would have done somethings by now. After all, haven't you lived here for a while?"

Blaine stiffened. Oops.

"Well, when you live here, you don't really do those sorts of things," he said quickly. "You always think you have time to do it later and then you never end up doing it."

Kurt nodded, but he still looked confused. Blaine handed Kurt his carry on.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said quickly. Kurt nodded again.

"Text me when you get back home," he said. Blaine nodded and got back inside the cab. He sighed as the driver took off. That had been close.


	21. The Dinner

The following night came all too soon for both boys. Their day together had been spent in joy, but there was an underlying tension between Kurt and Blaine. Both knew something important was going to happen tonight, something that would alter their relationship forever.

Dinner wasn't mentioned at all during the day. Both had waited for the other to bring it up first and consequently, dinner was never discussed until it was the time when Blaine had made reservations.

"I made a reservation at a Korean barbeque place," Blaine told Kurt nervously in the cab. "I've never been but my friend Wes swears by it."

Kurt nodded.

"You've never really talked about your friends before," he said offhandedly. Blaine shrugged his shoulders.

"I have a few," he admitted. "They can be hard to handle sometimes. Only one stayed in Chicago though. He goes to a university here in the city. "

"What's he studying?" Kurt asked. Blaine shrugged.

"I forgot?" he said. "He's changed it so many times."

Kurt laughed.

"I've known a few people like that," he said. "My step-brother Finn included. Of course, that wasn't really a surprise. Finn does what he feels like and when he gets bored, he moves on to something else."

Blaine chuckled. "Well, it was pretty surprising with Wes," he told Kurt. "In school, he was always the one that had everything planned out in advance. By the first week of classes, he would have his study schedule for finals planned out."

Kurt smiled softly. It was nice to hear Blaine talking about himself and his friends for once. All too often it felt like Blaine was restraining himself. Like Blaine didn't want to discuss his life in Chicago. Kurt hadn't understood why. If he had lived in Chicago, he would have been filled with stories about all the cool things he had done and seen.

Once they were seated, Blaine began to fidget nervously. Kurt barely noticed because he was too busy looking around the restaurant and trying to pretend that he wasn't nervous. For a few minutes there was an awkward silence, only broken when they ordered.

"So," Blaine started awkwardly. "We had some things to talk about?"

Kurt nodded.

"Do you want to go first? Or should I?" he asked. Blaine hesitated. He knew that he should probably go first, just in case his news would affect whatever Kurt wanted to talk to him about but the words caught in his throat. He didn't want to go first. He wanted to spend as much time as possible with Kurt before telling the truth, just in case Kurt never wanted to speak to him again.

"You can," Blaine squeaked out a few seconds later, heart racing. He regretted saying those two words but he couldn't take them back. Besides, it had bought him a few minutes at the very least.

Kurt nodded and looked down at the table.

"You're a great friend," he said to Blaine. "And I know what Sebastian did to you was horrible. After all, it wasn't like you were trying to come on to me or break us up. You just wanted to be friends and he was a total dick."

Blaine nodded, wondering where this was going. Kurt quickly glanced up at him before returning his gaze to the tabletop.

"Since Sebastian and I broke up, though, I've kind of had the feeling that I might want something more than just being friends," Kurt admitted shyly, a small blush reddening his cheeks. Blaine froze. Was Kurt really—? Kurt continued, confirming Blaine's thoughts.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe date?" Kurt winced slightly at how awkward the words sounded. "Sorry, I'm not used to asking people out. It's usually the other way around."

Blaine's heart beat furiously against his chest. He should have gone first, he thought. He should have told Kurt the moment that he had landed in Chicago. Then this would have never happened. Kurt would have known everything and Blaine wouldn't have felt like such a complete dick for lying to the taller man.

"So, what do you say?" Kurt asked, looking at Blaine nervously. Blaine looked pale. That wasn't a good sign but maybe it was just due to surprise. After all, Kurt had only decided to ask Blaine out on the plane. It was a spur of the moment decision, really.

"Sure?" Blaine said, trying to slow down his heartbeat and subtly wipe sweat off his palms.

"Great," Kurt said shyly and returned his gaze to the table. When Blaine didn't speak for a minute or so, Kurt looked back up.

"So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked curiously. Blaine's heart felt like it had leapt into his throat. He laughed nervously.

"It's not really important," he began and immediately started cursing at himself silently. Of course it was important. "Actually, I was sort of going to talk to you about the same thing."

Kurt smiled brightly.

"Really?" he asked. "It's funny how we're on the same page." Blaine laughed along with Kurt, though his laugh was quieter and a bit more awkward, hiding underlying tones of nervousness. He was grateful when their food came only a few minutes later.

That night, Wes and David were waiting for Blaine when he entered the apartment.

"Well?" Wes asked. "How did it go?"

Blaine looked at his friends and then averted his eyes.

"That bad?" David asked. Blaine sighed.

"Where's the rum, Wes?" he asked. "I know you have some hiding around here."

David and Wes winced. So it had gone really bad then.

"What happened?" David asked as Wes went to go find the rum. Blaine sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. He muttered something that David wasn't able to make out.

"Sorry, what was that?" David asked. Blaine lifted his head from his hands and gave David a forlorn look.

"He had something important to tell me," Blaine explained. "So I let him go first, thinking that it would give me some more time to figure out what to say. I wasn't expecting for him to ask me out."

"So, you're saying—" David began. Blaine nodded.

"I didn't tell him," he said.


	22. The Arrival of a New Semester

The rest of Kurt's visit was nerve-wracking for Blaine. He enjoyed their dates in the city but he knew that he needed to tell Kurt the truth. He tried—he honestly did—but no time seemed to be the  _right_  time.

After all, it was one thing to tell your crush that you had been lying to him about everything. It was another thing to tell a  _boyfriend_  that.

Blaine hated coming back to Wes's place at the end of the day. He could sense the disappointment in his friends whenever they asked if he told Kurt the truth and he had to give them a negative answer. He hated disappointing people, especially when it was his family and friends.

And now boyfriend.

Despite the fact that he and Kurt were dating, they hadn't officially kissed or done anything beyond holding hands. Blaine was ecstatic that they had moved beyond friendship but every time he tried to bring himself to lean over and kiss Kurt, he was overcome by guilt. This wasn't a true relationship. A true relationship was built on truth, according to his mother. Truth, not lies.

By the time the end of the week came around, Blaine gladly saw off Kurt and, once the plane was in the air, took a full breath for the first time since he and Kurt had started dating. He would be going back to Ohio the next day and returning to school within the week. He was relieved to go back and yet, he was petrified. At least here in Chicago he had the support of having Wes and David around. Back at VCU, he wouldn't have anyone, except for maybe Mike.

When the plane touched down in Virginia, Blaine took a deep breath as he gathered up his things. His parents had barely talked to him the last week he had been home, focused on their work. When they did talk to Blaine, it had always been about school and what his plans for the next semester were. Nothing about the trip to Chicago. Once they had asked how Wes was but didn't bother to ask if Blaine had seen or met anyone else.

Needless to say, Blaine hadn't told his parents about Kurt yet. The subject of dating rarely came up between him and his parents and when it did, it was always extremely awkward.

Blaine had transferred through Chicago to get to Richmond because Kurt was planning on picking him up from the airport. It was a longer day than he had originally planned but Blaine couldn't bring himself to care. Sometimes he just wanted all the lies to be over with but most days he couldn't bear the thought of losing Kurt because of his stupid mistakes.

"How was your flight?" Kurt asked as Blaine met him in front of the airport. Blaine sighed.

"Long," he said. "I nearly missed my flight in O'Hare."

Kurt looked at Blaine curiously.

"Why?" he asked. Blaine opened his mouth to reply but stopped himself suddenly. He couldn't say that he had nearly missed his connection due to flight delays and having been forced to run from one side of the airport to another because Kurt thought that his day's journey had began in Chicago, not Ohio.

Kurt continued to look at Blaine curiously, making the curly-haired college student realize that he still had to reply.

"Traffic," Blaine fibbed. "It was horrible this morning."

Kurt nodded. He had experienced some of Chicago's traffic first hand.

"Well, at least you made it," Kurt said cheerily. "Because if you hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to greet my boyfriend like this."

Kurt leaned over and pecked Blaine on the lips. Blaine stiffened at the initial contact, surprised by Kurt's boldness and Kurt had pulled away before Blaine could respond. Both boy's cheeks were bright red and it wasn't just from the cold.

"Hi," Kurt said after a few seconds.

"Hi," Blaine repeated, trying to prevent himself from bringing his hand up to touch his lips.

"Sorry about that," Kurt apologized. "I just assumed that you would be okay with that. It's okay if you're not."

Kurt looked like he would continue apologizing but Blaine stopped him by gently grabbing Kurt's hands.

"It's fine," Blaine said. "I'm more than okay with that. In fact, I really enjoyed it."

Kurt blushed harder.

"Good," he said. "I'm glad. Because I'd like to kiss my boyfriend every now and then."

Blaine smiled. It was ridiculous how the words 'my boyfriend' made him so happy. After all, they were only two words.

"So," he asked. "To campus?"

Kurt nodded.

"To campus," he replied. He tried to pull away to get into the driver's side but Blaine tugged on his hands quickly. When Kurt glanced in his direction, Blaine kissed the taller man on the lips gently. Kurt's eyes widened.

"Hi," Blaine said as he pulled away. Kurt's blush, which had been slowly fading, returned in full force.

"Hi," Kurt replied. "Now let's get back to campus, my adorable dork."

"I'm adorkable," Blaine joked. Kurt laughed and shook his head.

"No, Blaine, just no," he said.

Despite being exhausted—flying always took the energy out of Blaine for some reason—the former Warbler felt himself perking up as he began to recognize familiar signs and landmarks as they approached campus. He hadn't realized how much he had truly missed college life until he was back. For the first time since leaving for break, he felt completely free.

And with the feeling of freedom, Blaine finally felt strong enough to tell Kurt the truth.

As they passed the first signs welcoming them back to VCU, Blaine turned to Kurt.

"Can we talk later this week? Like really sit down and talk about some things?" he asked. Kurt nodded.

"Of course," he said, not bothering to ask why Blaine wanted to talk. Blaine smiled as a feeling of relief came over him.

"Great," he said before turning out to look out the window.


	23. The Story

When Kurt and Blaine met up the next day, Blaine found that he no longer had the courage to tell Kurt the truth. He was going to but as soon as he saw his boyfriend waiting outside his door with a cup of coffee in hand, he lost his nerve. He didn't want to ruin his new relationship.

"Hey you," Blaine said, smiling at Kurt, who smiled back.

"Hey. Coffee?"

Blaine gratefully accepted the cup. He had been in classes all day and hadn't had the chance to refill his cup since he had left his dorm that morning.

"How were classes?" Blaine asked as he unlocked his door. Mike was gone and probably would be for another few hours.

"It's a syllabus day," Kurt sighed. "It was absolutely boring. Are you done for the day?"

Blaine nodded absently as he set his bag down. He turned to face Kurt and nearly jumped in surprise when he realized how close his boyfriend was. Once he got over the unexpectedness of it, he leaned in and pecked Kurt on the lips.

"Are you done?" he asked. He received an affirmative nod for an answer. Standing awkwardly, Blaine tried to figure out something to do. His eyes landed on the television remote.

"Movie?" he asked. Kurt nodded again and chuckled as Blaine led him by the hand to the futon in the room. There was a brief tussle over the remote, causing Blaine to become sprawled over Kurt's lap before he gave up. The couple flipped through the channels before picking a movie that was just starting and that they were both familiar with.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Kurt sighed.

"I would have loved to go there," he said quietly. Blaine glanced at the T.V. The scene in a movie was showing a college tour of New York University.

"New York or NYU?" he asked.

"Both," Kurt replied. "It's silly to think of it now though. I picked VCU and I'm happy to stay here."

"Was VCU your first choice?" Blaine asked. He had never really asked why Kurt had chosen VCU of all places. Not that he was complaining. If Kurt hadn't come to VCU, they probably would have never met.

"More like my third out of five or six," Kurt said with a sigh. "I was accepted to all of them but my first choice."

"What were your first two?" Blaine began to entwine his hand with Kurt's, feeling the tension in the other boy's body.

"NYADA and NYU. I didn't get into NYADA," Kurt admitted. "I could have gone to NYU—my dad would have loved that—but I decided not to go in the end."

"Why not? If they were your first and second choices…"

Kurt hesitated.

"It's complicated," he said after a few seconds, before reaching for the remote and turning up the volume.

Blaine could take a hint. Kurt was done talking about NYU and Blaine knew better than to press for more.

The rest of the movie was spent in silence. Occasionally Blaine would gently stroke Kurt's knuckles, still feeling some remaining tension in the taller boy. When the credits began rolling and the trailer for the next movie started playing, Blaine attempted to move. Kurt groaned in protest.

"Why are you moving?" he asked.

"To get started on my readings for this week," Blaine said. "I need to get a head start. Otherwise, classes are going to be hell this semester."

"What classes?" Kurt asked.

"All of them. Most of them are business classes."

Kurt grimaced and Blaine chuckled.

"I know," he said. "I don't like them either but I have to take them."

"If you don't like them, why are you taking them? Isn't college supposed to be about taking classes you find interesting and enjoying yourself?" Kurt asked. Blaine shrugged.

"You haven't met my parents," he mumbled. Kurt's blue-green eyes narrowed in confusion. He made a questioning noise. Blaine shrugged again, this time in helplessness. "They expect me to get a degree in business, so that's what I'm doing," he explained. "That's all."

"But you don't enjoy it?" Kurt asked.

"It's fine when it's not math based," Blaine said, feeling like he was digging himself into a hole. "Sure, I might prefer to do other things but business is a good degree. It offers a lot of opportunities."

Kurt was frowning.

"You shouldn't study business because that's what your parents want. It's your life, not theirs."

Blaine could only shrug. He sat down with his textbooks as the next movie started, hoping that things would go back to how they were a few minutes earlier but Kurt was still troubled.

"It's your life," he said. "You shouldn't give up your dreams for someone else. I did and I always regretted it."

Blaine looked at his boyfriend curiously. When Kurt realized what he had said, he paled.

"It's nothing," Kurt tried to say but Blaine knew that he was lying.

"It's something," he said. "What happened?"

Kurt gave a half-hearted shrug.

"It's part of the reason why I didn't go to NYU," he said. "In high school there was this bully. No matter what I or anyone else did, he never stopped. It got worse and worse, until it got to the point where I was living every day in fear. I nearly transferred schools because of him. High school was literally a living hell for me.

"When I got my acceptance to NYU, I was so excited. I could go to New York and get away from Lima. Then—" Kurt paused and took a deep breath, blinking back frightened tears that were starting to form. "Then I found out that he got the chance to play football at NY State and that he had taken that chance. Just the thought of him being in the same city as me—even in a city as big as New York….The thought that he could easily hunt me down if he wanted to—that was enough to give up on the thought of NYU. I was too afraid of being in the same city as him. He's the reason why I'm at VCU doing fashion instead of trying to land a Broadway role in New York."

Blaine couldn't think of anything to say. He could only hold Kurt and rub soothing circles on his back as his boyfriend tried to calm down.


	24. The Nightmares

Kurt's story plagued Blaine for the rest of the week. While he and Kurt had seen each other since that afternoon, Blaine didn't have the courage to bring up the subject again. What would he say if it came up again?

Blaine didn't know.

At least Kurt seemed to have forgotten that Blaine had wanted to talk to him about something. He had never asked about it, despite the couple spending time together for at least an hour every night.

Blaine knew why Kurt's story was staying on his mind. It reminded him a lot of his own middle school experience, before he had transferred to Dalton Academy for high school. It had been an easy transition from middle school to high school, made easier by the fact that his father had gotten a job transfer. However, unlike him, Kurt hadn't run from his problems. He had suffered through them and had ultimately triumphed over them.

It was only natural that thinking about Kurt's bullying and his would bring the nightmares back. Blaine was surprised that they hadn't come sooner when he jolted awake the following Friday night.

His nightmares weren't like the ones he had read about it books. They never paralyzed him with fear and he never woke up screaming or sweating. Instead, he merely opened his eyes before the worst part of the nightmare started, breathing heavily.

It was the hours after the nightmares that were the worst in Blaine's opinion. His body longed to return to sleep but Blaine refused to do so. He was always too afraid that the nightmare would resume from where it had started if he would go back to sleep.

At home, Blaine would turn on the television to keep himself awake until morning came. However, with Mike sleeping in the room, Blaine didn't feel comfortable enough to do that. He didn't want to wake Mike, who was already busy with classes, practice, and going to organization meetings. Mike needed the sleep.

As quietly as possible, Blaine got up from his bed and grabbed a sweatshirt and his keys. He slipped out of the room and made his way to a common area, which was empty. Blaine wasn't really surprised since it was just after four in the morning. There weren't many in the building that stayed up late but those who did still usually went to bed between two and three. There was a television in the room and Blaine quickly turned it on and picked up a DVD that was left behind. It was a horror movie, not his favorite genre but he would rather watch a movie than watch infomercials until morning came around and the dining halls opened for breakfast.

Blaine ended up dozing throughout the movie but the screams kept waking him up. He slept through the credits and the movie began to reply. Since it was only just after six in the morning, he let it be, hoping to get a bit more sleep.

That was a bad idea.

When the movie ended for a second time, forcing Blaine to wake up and open his eyes, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw two faces just inches away from his face.

His hand lashed out to push the faces away from him and it hit one of the faces harder than Blaine expected.

"Dammit Blaine!" Wes cursed, rubbing his jaw. Blaine was cursing as he held his hand, having hurt it when it made contact with Wes's face.

"It's your own fault," someone said from behind the couch Blaine had fallen asleep on. Blaine jumped in surprise and turned around. Two more familiar faces were standing behind the couch.

Blaine looked around the room, checking if anyone else was going to surprise him. Only Jeff, Nick, David, and Wes were in the room.

"What the hell, guys?" Blaine demanded once he got over the surprise of seeing his friends.

"Surprise!" Three of the four chorused. Wes just glared at Blaine and continued to rub his jaw.

"We came here to surprise you," Wes sniffed, "but if you're just going to punch us, we might as well leave."

"It was your own fault," Nick repeated while rolling his eyes. "You should have known better than to surprise poor little Blaine like that."

Blaine glared at Nick.

"I'm not poor or little," he snapped, causing the others to laugh. "Now why the hell are you here?"

"We wanted to visit," David said. "And someone—" Everyone looked at Wes "decided that it would be a good idea to surprise you. Classes haven't started for us yet, so we had time. Now are you happy to see us or what?"

Blaine let out a weak chuckle and got up to hug his friends.

"It's nice to see you guys," he said. "Wes, stop acting like you're injured. I didn't punch you that hard."

"Says the one that took up boxing," Wes muttered. "Now…"

Blaine looked up at his friend and nearly shivered at the wicked grin on Wes's face. He turned to his other friends and they had similar grins.

"What?" he asked hesitantly.

"Where's the boyfriend?" Jeff asked. "We want to meet him."

"Please tell me that you didn't come out here just to meet Kurt," Blaine pleaded. That was drastic, even for his friends.

"Not just for that," Jeff said. "But we do want to meet him."

"Well, he's probably sleeping," Blaine said, trying to buy some time. "It is insanely early for a Saturday, after all. Nick, I thought you refused to get up before ten on a Saturday."

"If I had actually gone to sleep, yeah, but I haven't slept yet," Nick replied. "None of us have."

Blaine cringed. He had a feeling that he would have his hands full this weekend.

"Don't worry, Blaine," Wes said, slinging an arm over his shoulder. "We'll be on our best behavior. I'll keep them under control."

"Sure you will," Blaine muttered. "Sure you will."


	25. The Confrontation

Blaine tried to keep his friends away from Kurt for as long as he could. His relationship with Kurt was still new and he didn't want his friends to frighten Kurt away. He knew that they could be intense at times.

At first it was easy. It was an early morning on the weekends and students were still sleeping in whenever they could.

To keep the former Warblers from waking up the entire floor, Blaine decided to take them out for breakfast and coffee. They could have stayed on campus but Blaine didn't want to run into anyone that he knew. There would be less chances of that happening off campus.

Way off campus.

"Blaine, do you even know where we're going?" Wes demanded as he glared from the driver's seat over to the passenger's seat.

"Yes," Blaine said. "Now turn left."

"I can't turn left, Blaine! That's a one way street."

"Then turn right."

Wes muttered something under his breath. Blaine didn't try to listen to what his friend was saying. He knew that it was most likely something rude.

"Let's find this place later, when we have directions," Nick interjected from the back seat. "I need coffee and fast."

"Starbucks it is," Wes declared and tried to find a series of outlet stores. It shouldn't be too hard to find a coffee shop by a shopping area. They were everywhere, especially out East.

"Not that one," Blaine said hurriedly when Wes began to pull into a parking lot. He had caught a glimpse of someone through the store window. Someone he didn't want to deal with currently.

"Why not?"

Blaine refused to answer. Wes ignored the protest and parked. The doors barely had time to unlock before Jeff and Nick were flinging them open and running towards the store.

"Why not this one?" Wes pressed again as David followed the two more slowly.

"It's nothing," Blaine said, not meeting his friend's eyes and quickly hurried out of the vehicle before Wes could say anything else. He would just have to suck it up and confront whom he had seen inside the store. He wished that luck would be on his side and that the person inside wouldn't even see him but with his friends around, he knew that was highly unlikely.

"Blaine, you can't keep running away from things," Wes said, trailing behind him. "It's unhealthy to keep things bottled in the way you do."

"I don't keep things bottled in," Blaine snapped and opened the door leading into the coffee shop. He took a deep breath, nervous for the oncoming confrontation. There was no way that this wouldn't end in confrontation.

"Over here!" Jeff called as Blaine walked through the door. "Nick's buying."

"Since when?" Wes asked, though not protesting. Free coffee was free coffee.

"Since he's the one that demanded we go get coffee."

"Then Blaine should help pay since he's the one that dragged us here of all places," Wes said.

"This isn't where I wanted to go," Blaine protested. "You're just too impatient and chose this place instead."

Simultaneously, their phones buzzed with an incoming text message. Blaine rolled his eyes as he read the message.

_I can hear you and you're all paying for your own coffee._

"But what happened to my promise of free coffee?" Wes whined. Before anyone could reply, a cool voice interjected.

"I see things haven't changed at all between you five."

Blaine winced. This was what he had been dreading. At least he wasn't alone.

"Hey Sebastian," Wes said coolly. "We missed you at the Thanksgiving party."

"Figured I'd spend the night celebrating my freedom for the first time in months, since thanks to Blaine, I no longer had a boyfriend. Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem," Blaine replied. He sounded confident but he couldn't bring himself to meet Sebastian's eyes. "Haven't seen you around on campus lately."

"Like I said, I've been celebrating my freedom. I have better things to do than to keep track of my ex and his new boyfriend."

"But you heard about that," Blaine pointed out. He saw Sebastian shrug out of the corner of his eye.

"Met a friend of yours. I think his name was Gabriel. He was all torn up when he found out and looked like he could use some comforting."

Wes gave a derisive snort of laughter. "You, comforting. Sure."

The two glared at each other before Sebastian rolled his eyes.

"Whatever," he said before stalking away and leaving the store. When he left, Blaine let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. That went a lot better than he had expected.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm missing something?" Jeff asked, looking between Blaine and the door. Blaine glanced at Wes who shrugged. He hadn't told anyone but David the entire story. "Why is Sebastian convinced you stole his boyfriend?"

"It's complicated," Blaine said.

"Really complicated," David agreed, sitting down with Nick. He turned to Blaine. "But it seemed like he's getting over things. There were no threats, after all. I don't think you have to fear retaliation."

"Especially if his stories are true. He couldn't have been broken up too much if he went out the same night as the break-up."

Blaine knew that his friends were trying to be reassuring but he didn't believe their words. They weren't going to have to deal with Sebastian for the next few years.

"So does anyone want to fill us in on what's been going on between you and him?" Nick probed. Wes and David looked at Blaine, who sighed. He was starting to get sick of explaining himself.

"Just another reason for you to actually come clean to Kurt about everything. Then that would make things less complicated and you wouldn't have to explain yourself so much," David muttered, making Blaine realize that he had spoken out loud. Blaine sighed again and began to explain the entire situation between him, Kurt, and Sebastian.


	26. The Lunch

Eventually Blaine had to take his friends back to campus. He was thankful he didn't have to drive since the entire morning had been an exhausting experience. Explaining the situation took longer and was more tiring than he expected and he was already tired from the lack of sleep from the night before. Therefore, it wasn't surprising to his friends that he fell asleep on the way back to campus.

"This isn't going to end well, is it?" Nick asked once he saw that Blaine was asleep.

"Can you honestly see someone reacting well to learning that their entire relationship and friendship was a lie?" Wes muttered as he focused on the road.

"Why did he let this go on so long?" Nick wanted to know.

"Too scared to lose the relationship, I assume," David said. "And I'm sure now he feels that there's just too many things he wouldn't be able to explain."

"And what happens when everything comes tumbling down?" Jeff asked.

"We'll be there," David said firmly. "And we'll make him see that there's more than just the relationship."

Blaine's room was empty when the five of them came back. Blaine silently breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have to worry about Mike being mad about the surprise visitors and he didn't have to worry about his friends driving his roommate crazy.

"So where does this Kurt of yours live?" Jeff asked.

"Not in the building," Blaine said bluntly. His friends poked around the room as he watched before Blaine's phone vibrated.

_Want to grab lunch?_

Blaine hesitated before replying.

_Sure. Do you mind if I bring some friends?_

Kurt's reply was immediate.

 _Of course not_.

In reality, seeing the text made Kurt nervous. What type of friends was Blaine talking about? He hadn't mentioned anyone coming to visit him. Were they college friends that Kurt hadn't heard about or were they from high school?

The curiosity plagued Kurt until lunchtime rolled around and he was waiting to meet Blaine. His eyes widened when he spotted Blaine in a group of five and he adjusted his clothes nervously.

In some ways, Kurt thought, meeting the friends was almost worse than meeting the family. He wanted to make a good impression on Blaine's friends because he knew that if he didn't, they could make Blaine seriously reconsider their relationship. He had seen it happen before, especially in high school.

"Is that him?" Wes asked, when he spotted Kurt. Blaine sighed but nodded and grabbed Wes's jacket when the boy looked like he was going to run ahead and startle Kurt.

"Be nice," he warned. Wes looked offended by his statement.

"Blaine, we attended one of the foremost academies in the country that prides itself on teaching not only excellent academics but also manners and etiquette. Of course I'll be nice."

David, Blaine, Nick, and Jeff all rolled their eyes.

"Do you still read the brochure every night just to memorize it in case you run across a middle school student that just happens to be considering attending Dalton?" David asked.

"Don't answer that," Jeff interjected. "We really don't want to know."

"Shut up about Dalton," Blaine reminded his friends in a low tone. "Kurt doesn't know about that, remember?"

Before they could reply, Kurt was within earshot.

"Are you Kurt?" Jeff asked. "Blaine's told us a lot about you."

Blaine groaned as a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. He hadn't considered his friends attempting to embarrass him.

Kurt nodded.

"Hi," he said, looking at everyone in the group. Blaine realized that was his cue to give introductions.

"This is Jeff, Nick, David, and Wes," he informed his boyfriend, pointing everyone out. "They're friends of mine from back when I was younger. We practically grew up together."

Technically, not a lie. A person did a lot of growing up in four years of high school.

"This is Kurt," Blaine finished.

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said smoothly. His nervousness was only betrayed to Blaine who noticed the older boy smoothing out his jacket and pants.

"Where did you want to eat?" Blaine asked.

"Dining hall?" Kurt recommended. Blaine gave a sigh of relief.

"Sounds good," he told Kurt. "You can't imagine how much these four can eat."

Lunch wasn't as bad as Blaine or Kurt expected it to go. Blaine's friends didn't slip up much to Blaine's relief and thankfully for Kurt, they seemed more intent on embarrassing Blaine than interrogating him. When the four of Blaine's friends went to grab some dessert, Blaine and Kurt remained seating.

"They seem nice," Kurt stated.

"They've helped me through a lot," Blaine agreed.

"You didn't mention that they were coming up."

Blaine gave an awkward shrug.

"They didn't tell me they were coming until they showed up," he replied. "I can only hope that Mike doesn't kill me if they stay overnight. I don't know how we can fit six people in our room for the night. I might have to sleep in the lounge again."

Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"Again?" he questioned. Blaine's cheeks reddened and he coughed awkwardly.

"I fell asleep in there while watching a movie," he explained. "I couldn't sleep earlier and watching a movie beat laying in bed all night."

Kurt hummed in agreement and stood up as Blaine's friends returned.

"Want to go get dessert?" he asked. Blaine nodded and stood up as well.

"Ice cream?" he asked. Wes, who was in the process of sitting down, gave Blaine a strange look but said nothing as Blaine and Kurt walked away.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Blaine lactose intolerant?" he asked David.

"He was in high school," David replied. "I remember when he first came to Dalton he would eat ice cream to fake sick and get out of classes or being around people."

Wes frowned. It looked like Blaine was starting to do the same things again. Was Blaine trying to make himself feel physically worse because he felt like a terrible person for lying all the time? If that was the case, Wes would need to call someone more equipped to handle this than he was.


	27. The Beginning of Explanations

When Monday morning finally came around, Blaine almost didn't want to go to classes. His friends' visit had exhausted him and the last thing he wanted to learn about was business or accounting. The only thing that encouraged him to get out of bed was the fact that he had promised to grab breakfast with Kurt.

"Morning," Kurt greeted his boyfriend when Blaine arrived at their usual meeting spot. Blaine murmured a greeting in return, still in the process of waking up. Kurt gave a gentle smile before leading the way to their usual breakfast spot.

"Do you have any plans for next weekend?" he asked. "Or do you think you'll have surprise visitors again?"

Blaine groaned.

"Please no," he grumbled. "I love my friends but after putting up with them all weekend, I really wanted to kill them at the end."

"It's a good thing that you didn't end up going to the same place and end up as roommates," Kurt commented. Blaine shuddered at the idea.

"Why do you ask?" he inquired, going back to Kurt's original question.

"Ballroom club is hosting a dance on campus," Kurt said. "I've been forced into going and I figured that if I had some company it wouldn't be so bad."

"What kind of dance?" Blaine asked warily. He was fine going to a normal school dance and dancing like he normally did but he had a feeling that since the ballroom club was hosting the event, it might be more formal dances.

"It usually starts out with traditional dances, like waltzes and sambas," Kurt explained. "But eventually the lights get turned down and it becomes more like a high school dance. Or so I've heard."

"So you've heard," Blaine said with a grin. "Sounds fun. I'll be there."

Kurt's smile was reward enough. However, on the way back from breakfast, Blaine called Mike.

"I need your help," he said as soon as his roommate picked up.

"With?"

"I need you to teach me how to dance."

There was a hesitation before Mike spoke again.

"Why exactly?"

"Are you at the room?" Blaine asked.

"For a bit, yes."

"I'll explain when I get back," Blaine said quickly before tucking his phone in his pocket.

Mike was waiting in the dorm room, looking like he had just gotten out of the shower.

"What's going on?" he asked as Blaine walked into the room.

"Kurt invited me to a dance," Blaine said.

"That's it?" Mike asked. "You don't need me to teach you to dance for that. You just sort of bop along and follow what everyone else is doing."

Blaine gave his roommate an unamused look.

"I don't mean that kind of dancing," he told Mike. "The dance Kurt invited me to is being hosted by the ballroom club. I don't want to look like a fool in front of everyone."

"You do realize that this dance is just going to be the ballroom club showing off until someone gets bored enough to blast pop music and turn down the lights, right?" Mike asked.

"Please?" Blaine gave his roommate the best pleading look he could manage. Mike cursed under his breath before sighing.

"Fine…"

An hour later, Mike and Blaine were leaning against their beds, wiping sweat off from their foreheads.

"I'm done," Mike said. "No more."

"But—" Blaine protested.

"We've covered and practically mastered five dances in one hour, Blaine!" Mike announced. "I need a break."

Blaine sighed but didn't say anything. Mike moved to grab his keys.

"Let's get something to eat," he said. "Or at least get something to drink.  
Blaine opened his mouth to suggest something but Mike cut him off. "Something that isn't coffee. I swear you're addicted."

"There are worse things to be addicted to," Blaine replied.

They ended up stopping at a local food truck that sold a variety of cold treats. Without even thinking, Blaine ordered a cone of chocolate ice cream. Mike gave him an odd look before deciding to ask a question that had been bugging him for most of the semester.

"Aren't you lactose intolerant, Blaine?"

Blaine looked at his roommate in surprise.

"Sort of. Why?"

"I saw the pills in your desk a few weeks ago and when I went to borrow a stapler, I saw that they still weren't opened. So, if you're lactose intolerant, why the hell did you buy ice cream?"

Blaine stared down at his ice cream cone. "It's complicated," he murmured.

"Glee club in high school was complicated," Mike said. "I can deal with complicated."

Blaine sighed.

"In my family, there's a lot of pressure to do well and have the perfect life," he explained. "Ever since I came out, there's been even more pressure since I can't have the perfect life that my parents had planned for me."

"How does ice cream factor into this?" Mike asked.

"Because sometimes it's the only way I feel perfect, okay? I eat ice cream, I get sick, and after that's done, I finally start to feel like I can control something in my life."

"That's not healthy," Mike informed Blaine. "And you have more control than you think."

"I know it's not healthy but it works for me when times get bad. It's my way of dealing with stress."

"You should really talk to someone about this," Mike said.

"I'll be fine," Blaine replied. "Once I'm less stressed, I'll be fine."

"And what's been stressing you out?" Mike asked. "Classes? Because if you're struggling that much, you should probably just consider switching majors."

"To what?" Blaine asked. "There are only a few careers that my parents will accept for me and business was the easiest major out of all of them."

"You don't have to do what your parents tell you to do," Mike said. "Find something you're interested in and do that. You're an adult now."

"They're paying for my college," Blaine sighed. "I have to do what they want."

Sadly, that wasn't his biggest issue right now.


	28. Meeting the Friends

The next weekend, then dance went smoother than Blaine expected. He felt foolish when he realized that the traditional ballroom dances that Kurt had mentioned were meant to be exhibits and that the students who came for later didn't have to actually attempt them. After about forty-five minutes, the lights had been turned down and it had turned into a typical high school-like dance environment. After another hour or so, Kurt and Blaine left the building, laughing and smiling as they did so.

"That wasn't so bad," Kurt said. "Considering I was practically forced to go by someone who didn't even bother talking to me at all."

"It was a lot less worse than I was expecting," Blaine agreed. "Though I feel like we left pretty early." The dance had still been growing strong and it seemed like it would get wilder as the night went on.

Kurt shrugged.

"It turns out that I have friends visiting tomorrow," he explained. "I didn't find out until late in the week. Mike's girlfriend is coming and a few of our old glee club friends. It's just for the day, though. They're driving up to New York in the evening.

Blaine faintly remembered Mike mentioning his girlfriend visiting. He had forgotten that she would also be one of Kurt's old friends.

"Have fun then," he said.

"Are you free for lunch tomorrow?" Kurt asked. "They want to meet you, since I may have mentioned you once or twice."

"Just once or twice?" Blaine asked, feeling a ridiculous smile creep up on his face. Kurt's cheeks reddened.

"Maybe a few more times than that," he mumbled before clearing his throat. "So anyway, are you free?"

"Text me the location and I'll be there," Blaine promised. The couple separated with a kiss before parting. It wasn't until later that night, when Blaine was trying to sleep, that he made a realization.

He was meeting Kurt's friends tomorrow.

"I don't understand why you're so nervous," Mike said the next day. "You've talked to Tina before."

"That's different," Blaine said. "That was on the phone for only a few seconds."

"But you've still talked to her more than once," Mike pointed out. "And from what she's heard of you, she likes you. You put up with me, after all."

"I just—" Blaine fidgeted nervously. "I don't do well with girls. They're like an entirely foreign species to me. I barely talked to any in high school besides the ones in my family." Of course that was probably due to the fact that Blaine had gone to an all boys' private school.

"Sam isn't a girl," Mike reminded Blaine. "And you'll be fine. It's just Tina, Mercedes, and Sam. The ones you would have had to worry about are in New York or across the country. Trust me. You'll be fine."

"I've heard the stories," Blaine said. "I know they've done some crazy things to people that they didn't like."

"Not as crazy as others in the group," Mike replied. "And it was high school. Everyone does crazy things in high school."

Blaine begged to differ. The craziest things that had ever happened in his life were happening in college.

Mike's phone buzzed, announcing the arrival of Tina and his friends. Blaine picked up his backpack. That was his signal to go study at the library until Kurt texted him where they were grabbing lunch. Mike had argued against his plan but Blaine didn't want to feel like he was intruding. Besides, he needed to study for an upcoming exam.

Two hours later, Blaine's phone buzzed. He sighed in relief. He had just been getting to the parts of the book and his notes that he didn't understand. Now he could put off studying the material and trying to figure out what he was doing for a bit longer. He noted the location before sending off a reply to Kurt.

On the way to meet Kurt and Mike and their friends, Blaine tried not to panic. Mike was right. He had talked to Tina before. However, it was one thing to talk to someone briefly on the phone and another thing to actually meet them in person.

Walking into the café, it was easy to spot Kurt and his friends. Mike was sitting next to whom Blaine assumed to be Tina and the other two people that Blaine didn't recognize looked pretty couple-like.

Then it hit Blaine. This wasn't necessarily just Blaine meeting Kurt's friends. This could also be considered a group date.

The college freshman was now even more nervous.

"Blaine?"

Blaine plastered a bright smile on his face and walked over to the group.

"Hey," he said, sitting down in the last open seat. Kurt gave him a reassuring smile before Blaine was suddenly hugged by the two girls at the table.

"It's nice to finally see the face behind the voice on the phone," the girl sitting next to Mike said. "I'm Tina."

Blaine gave her a smile. "I recognized the voice," he said. "It's nice to meet you, too." Tina wasn't what Blaine had been expecting. She and Mike looked very different from each other, but Blaine suspected that was what part of what had brought them together.

The lunch went much smoother than expected. Blaine was surprised that he didn't feel the need to impress Kurt's friends as much as he had felt the need to impress Kurt when they had first met.

It was a strange feeling.

Blaine didn't return to the library that afternoon. Instead, he remained with Kurt and his friends, reveling in the feeling of no stress or pressure for the first time in forever. He was just a boy, spending time with his boyfriend and friends, not having to worry about school or exams or the fact that his entire life was currently a lie.

He just wished that the feeling would last forever.


	29. The Next Step

" _What's this, Blaine?"_

_Kurt held out a photograph, his eyes troubled and betrayed. Blaine looked at the photograph, even though he wanted to do anything else._

_It was a photo of the Dalton Academy Warblers graduating class of 2011. He and Sebastian were standing on opposite sides of the group, but there was no doubt that Blaine was in the photo._

" _A picture of me in my high school glee club," Blaine said softly._

" _But this is Dalton Academy, in Ohio," Kurt said._

" _I know."_

" _But you said you went to high school in Chicago."_

_Blaine hesitated and Kurt took that as an answer. The taller man threw down the photo._

" _You lied to me," he said in an emotionless voice. "Our entire relationship was a lie."_

" _I wanted to tell you," Blaine said, hearing his voice crack._

" _You lied to me!"_

_Before Blaine even had a chance to explain himself, Kurt was out the door. He ran after Kurt but the more he tried to catch up, the further Kurt was from him._

Blaine woke up with a start and rolled over. His breathing was steady, despite the nightmare that he had just had. The dark-haired man tried not to dwell on the nightmare, not wanting to think about Kurt finding out about his lies and breaking up with him.

Out of all the nightmares he had had since he and Kurt had gotten together, this one was the most realistic. No one turned into monsters or was suddenly killed by a dinosaur or some other creature. This nightmare was exactly how Blaine had imagined a break-up would go once he told Kurt the truth. Blaine nearly wished that he had one of his more absurd nightmares. They were easier to push out of his mind.

Blaine wasn't sure how much longer he could keep having these nightmares. They were becoming more and more frequent and he knew why. His subconscious was trying to convince him to tell Kurt the truth.

It would be best if he told the truth sooner than later. Before their relationship went any further. Blaine doubted that once the truth was out that he and Kurt would still be dating but if he told the truth before Kurt found out on his own, they might still have the chance to be friends. It was a small chance but the smallest chance was better than none.

Blaine was still dwelling on the nightmare hours later when Kurt texted him.

_Want to meet at my place tonight after dinner?_

It was an odd request, especially coming from Kurt, but Blaine didn't hesitate saying yes. Maybe tonight would be the night he told the truth, though he doubted it.

Blaine tried to figure out the best way to approach the subject. He doubted that saying outright "I've been lying to you since the day we met" would be the best way to start the conversation.

He was so preoccupied that Blaine never considered to think about what Kurt's text had meant. Normally they kept their dates to meal times or hanging out at Blaine's place. Blaine had only been over at Kurt's place once or twice and that was when he was waiting for Kurt to finish getting ready before they went off campus for a few hours.

That was why Blaine wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary when he knocked on Kurt's door that night.

Blaine let out a muffled yell as the door opened and he was enveloped in a hot, fiery kiss. It was unlike anything he had experienced before. He and Kurt had kissed, quite often when they were alone, but they normally didn't contain this amount of raw passion.

It was then Blaine realized what was probably about to happen. He and Kurt had recently talked about going further than kissing and clothed grinding but Blaine hadn't really expected that Kurt would take things into his own hands.

"Roommate?" he asked, pulling away for a second. He didn't want to be interrupted later and have to deal with that awkwardness.

"Out of town for the night," Kurt replied in a breathless voice before pulling Blaine into another kiss.

Instead of thinking too much like he always did, Blaine let himself feel. He pushed away all of his thoughts and enjoyed the night that he and Kurt had together.

It wasn't until after the night was nearly over and Kurt had fallen asleep that Blaine realized he had done the thing he had been trying to avoid. He had meant to tell Kurt the truth before they had sex but he had been blind-sided by tonight.

Blaine lay awake until the sun started to rise, thinking about what to do next. He wondered how tonight would change things in the future. When the sun had broken the horizon, he quietly sat up and tried to be as silent as he could as he got ready to leave. Before he could, Kurt woke up.

"Where're you going?" he slurred, blinking sleepily. Blaine turned around and smiled softly at Kurt, hoping his worry didn't show.

"I have to shower and get ready for class," he said. "I'll see you later."

On impulse, Blaine approached the bed and placed a gentle kiss on Kurt's lips.

"See you later," Kurt replied, squeezing Blaine's hand before turning over and falling back asleep.

Blaine stared at Kurt for a few more seconds before he continued gathering his things up. When he was fully dressed, Blaine slipped out of the room and began to walk back to his own room.

It was strange to see the campus so empty and silent but Blaine was thankful for the silence. It gave him time to think and to curse himself. After all, he had just done the last thing he had wanted to do. Now, he feared, there was no way of getting out of this situation without causing lasting damage to his and Kurt's relationship.


	30. The Yearbook

"Blaine?"

Kurt knocked on the door and waited patiently. He had checked with Mike that Blaine was actually in the room because he was starting to realize that cornering Blaine in his room was the only way he was going to get the other boy to talk to him.

He didn't understand why Blaine had started avoiding him, just that it had started last weekend. Kurt wanted to know why Blaine had suddenly changed. Did he regret their night together? Kurt knew that Blaine had been caught by surprise but he hadn't expected this type of reaction afterwards. Unless…

Kurt shook his head, not wanting to think about the other option. He refused to believe that Blaine had just been using him and once they had sex, the relationship was over. He had met those types of people before and he knew Blaine wasn't like that.

The chestnut-haired boy scowled at the still closed door.

"Blaine Anderson, open up right now," he snapped. "I know you're in there. Mike told me so."

This wasn't the first time Kurt had stopped by Mike and Blaine's room but this was the first time he knew that Blaine was actually inside. The other times, Blaine had been out studying in the library or at a dining hall. That was what had tipped Kurt off that he was being avoided in the first place. Blaine hated studying in the library and would only do so before an exam.

There was a quick fumbling and Kurt heard someone trip as they made their way toward the door. Then it opened, revealing Blaine.

The curly-haired freshman looked like he had just rolled out of bed. He blinked sleepily at his boyfriend.

"Kurt?" he asked, looking surprised. Kurt discretely glanced at his watch. It was nine in the morning and he knew that Blaine didn't have class until eleven this semester.

"Can we talk?" he asked. Blaine nodded, sleepy confusion filling his eyes.

"Can you give me a few minutes?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and holding in a yawn. "So I can shower? We can talk over coffee."

Kurt smiled.

"Go on," he said. "Don't fall asleep in the shower."

Blaine nodded before stepping back and letting Kurt inside. He grabbed a set of clothes from his closet before heading toward the bathroom. Kurt made a place for himself on the futon and looked around. The room hadn't changed much from the beginning of the year but there was the addition of a few more items.

Mike had stopped making sure that his dance bag was neatly packed. Now everything was sprawled across the room. There were a few more pictures and posters that had been attached to the wall. Blaine's bookshelf, which had been mostly empty, was now double stacked.

Kurt stood and began to peruse Blaine's bookshelf to see if there was anything interesting that he hadn't read yet. He spotted a book on Blaine's bookshelf that he hadn't seen before. The title intrigued him the most.

Dalton Academy 2010-2011

Why would Blaine have a Dalton Academy yearbook, the same as Sebastian had? Blaine was from Chicago.

Kurt reached for the yearbook and flipped through it. Maybe Blaine had friends that had gone to Dalton and one of them had left it behind.

The seniors were at the front of the yearbook. Kurt was curious to see what kind of people his ex-boyfriend had gone to school with. He didn't get past the first page. One name stuck out like the hideous color combination that was brown and orange.

Blaine Anderson.

Kurt was still staring at the page when Blaine returned from his shower. When he heard Blaine come into the room, he looked up, eyes filled with confusion.

"Why is your picture in a Dalton yearbook?" he asked. "You said you went to high school in Chicago."

Blaine froze and his hazel eyes widened as he saw the Dalton yearbook in Kurt's hand. He had forgotten that his friends had left it behind when they had come to visit.

"What?" he asked, trying not to let panic fill his voice. No, this was not the way things were supposed to go. He was supposed to tell Kurt, not have him find out on his own.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, silently pleading for Blaine to tell him that it was some sort of joke or a mistake.

Blaine rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I was embarrassed," he admitted after a few seconds. "And intimidated. I didn't want to seem like a loser from some small town to you."

Spots of red began appearing on Kurt's cheeks.

"To me?" he asked, voice starting to rise in volume and pitch. "Are you trying to say that you did it because of me?"

"No!" Blaine quickly said and shook his head. "I don't know why I said that I was from Chicago. I suppose I just wanted to sound impressive."

"Impressive?" Kurt snorted in disbelief. "And then what? You decided to just keep playing along with what you said, to see how long it would take others to figure out the truth—that you were lying all along?"

"No!" Blaine interrupted, cheeks flushing at the accusation. "Then classes started and I was confused and stressed and then there was the whole thing about Sebastian and blackmail. I wanted to tell you but we were just starting to become friends and I didn't want to lose that friendship. I didn't expect things to go this far. They just began spiraling out of control."

Kurt was frowning and his arms were crossed.

"So let me get a few things straight," he said. "You went to Dalton Academy, in Ohio." Blaine nodded silently. "And you're not from Chicago."

"No," Blaine whispered.

"Is there anything you told me that was the truth?" Kurt demanded.

"Yes!" Blaine practically cried out. "Of course there was."

"And now I'm supposed to believe that? After you basically just admitted you lied about your entire life to me? Tell me, are you even gay?"

Blaine's hazel eyes widened at the accusation.

"Of course I am, Kurt! You should know that."

"I feel like I don't know anything right now!" Blaine took a step back as Kurt actually shouted. The older man kept ranting. "I told you some of my deepest secrets, Blaine. That meant something. That meant I really trusted you! And now I have to find out that you've been lying to me the entire time!"

"Kurt, it wasn't like that," Blaine protested softly but it was ignored.

"D-Don't talk to me right now. I can't deal with this right now. I can't believe this is happening." Kurt was walking backwards, heading for the door.

"Kurt—" Blaine said in one last attempt to stop him from leaving but Kurt just shook his head, eyes filled with betrayal and hurt.

"Just leave me alone, Blaine," Kurt said before fleeing.


	31. The Aftermath

Blaine watched the door slam shut, his hands trembling. His breathing quickened as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

Well, it was obvious what happened. But what did that mean? Had they broken up or was it just a matter of time and space? Kurt hadn't explicitly said that they were done. He had just left.

Fingers fumbling, Blaine withdrew his phone from his pocket. He called Kurt but there was no answer. Blaine was silently relieved, as he had no idea what he would have said had Kurt picked up. However, he felt he at least had to try. After hanging up, Blaine stared at his phone. He needed to talk to someone but he didn't know whom he could call. His friends were out of the question because he knew that they would admonish him for not telling Kurt sooner and he couldn't deal with that right now. He knew that he couldn't deal with his parents right now. They simply wouldn't care. They would be more focused on his dismal grades.

No, Blaine needed to talk to someone that had been in a similar situation but he didn't really know anyone that qualified.

Then it hit him. He knew someone that wouldn't judge him, no matter what he did. Blaine began to dial the number he had forgotten he had known by heart.

"What's up, baby bro?" Blaine calmed upon hearing Cooper's voice.

"Do you have time to talk?" Blaine asked, hating how he could hear his voice trembling. "I screwed up and I need some advice."

Cooper was silent for a second.

"Give me a minute," he said. There was a brief muffled conversation and Blaine glanced at the time. He had forgotten Cooper would be at work.

"I'm all yours," Cooper said. "What's up?"

"Were you in a meeting?" Blaine questioned, starting to get worried. He needed help but he didn't want to get his brother into trouble.

"It's fine, Blaine," Cooper assured him. "It's a bit of a slow morning. Now what happened?"

Blaine found himself explaining everything that had happened since he had started college, including the things he hadn't told Wes and David and things he hadn't even realized he was doing until just then.

When he was finally done, he took a deep breath.

"Well, it sounds like your first year of college was a lot more eventful than mine was," Cooper remarked.

"Cooper!"

The older Anderson chuckled on the other side of the phone. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Do me a favor Blaine and just breath."

"I think I am breathing, otherwise I'd be dead by now," Blaine grumbled.

"Deep breaths," Cooper clarified. "And stop thinking so much. You have the tendency to overthink things and that makes you more anxious than you need to be. Sometimes you just need to relax and go with the flow. Just let things happen on their own."

"I don't think it's that easy," Blaine muttered.

"Just give Kurt some space," Cooper advised. "So he can wrap his head around things. Maybe limit your calls to beg for forgiveness to once or twice a day, instead of every hour or so like you would normally do."

Blaine frowned. How did Cooper know him so well?

"If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one in our family that's made a mess of things by lying," Cooper said.

"But I'm probably the only one that's taken it to this extent," Blaine grumbled, hating himself even more. Cooper sighed.

"What do you have going on for the rest of the week?" he asked.

"Just homework and class," Blaine replied, confused by the sudden change in topic. "Why?"

"I have to get back to work, but I'll call you later. When are you done with classes?"

"Around three," Blaine replied. "Why?"

"I'll call you back after work," Cooper said. "Your classes should be done by then."

His brother abruptly hung up the phone, causing Blaine to stare at his own phone in absolute confusion and slight hurt. He had truly expected more advice from his brother than "Just give it time and space". He could have figured that out on his own.

Still, he shouldn't have been surprised. His brother could be like that at times. Cooper would listen for a few minutes but once he was distracted, it was hard to get his attention back. His brother was also working and Blaine knew from dealing with his father that work took precedence over nearly everything else. Cooper didn't have time for his love life crisis.

Blaine glanced at the time. It was nearly time for his first class of the day. The hazel-eyed freshman groaned. He really didn't feel like going to class today, not after what had just happened.

Making a quick decision, Blaine opened up his computer and sent an email off to his professor, stating that he was sick and wouldn't be able to make it to class. He would stop by later in the week to pick up any make-up work that he might have, as well as turn in his late homework.

At least this was one of his classes where attendance didn't matter. The class was large enough that Blaine doubted he would even be missed, seeing as he had no friends in the class to begin with. It was just a gen. ed. class anyway.

After skipping that first class, Blaine skipped the rest of his classes. He knew that he was missing a quiz but since the lowest quiz grade was dropped at the end of the semester, he wasn't particularly worried. Blaine gave a dry smile when he realized that today was the first day he had willingly skipped class and hadn't cared about the consequences.

Mike came back to the room for an hour after lunch and gave Blaine an odd look, but hadn't said anything about his presence. He must have assumed that Blaine's class had been cancelled, which made sense as it had happened before.

Blaine must have been hiding how he was feeling pretty well, as Mike didn't seem to notice anything was wrong. He should have been an actor, Blaine realized. He was better at acting and living a lie than he had thought.

He could just imagine the look on his parents' faces if Blaine told them he wanted to take up acting. They would be absolutely horrified.

A little after four, there was a knock on the door. Blaine sat up and tilted his head. He hadn't been expecting anyone to drop by and he knew Mike hadn't forgotten his keys. He had seen his roommate grab them on the way out.

At a second knock, Blaine got to his feet.

"I'm coming," he called before reaching out and opening the door.


	32. The Unknown Story

Blaine stared at the figure at the door in disbelief.

"Cooper, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?" Blaine's older brother pushed past him and entered the room, looking around.

"I always forget how small the dorms typically are," he remarked before turning to face Blaine. "What, no hug for your favorite big brother?"

"You're my only brother," Blaine mumbled, still trying to figure out what Cooper was doing in his room.

"Which automatically puts me in position of favorite brother," Cooper pointed out. Blaine rolled his eyes.

"You didn't answer my question," he said. "Why are you here instead of at work?"

"You know me, Blaine," Cooper said. "How could I not come visit when I know that my baby brother is in distress and needs my help? So I told my boss that there was a family emergency and I needed to take off for the rest of the week. She had no problem with it."

"Your boss is a man, though," Blaine pointed out. "One of dad's friends."

"That's my manager," Cooper reminded him. "My actual boss is a woman and I make sure to stay on her good side for occasions like these." Blaine raised an eyebrow and Cooper backtracked. "Okay, so maybe not exactly this situation in particular but it worked out."

Blaine sighed but allowed a smile to overcome his face, the first one since Kurt had left. "It's good to see you."

"Of course it is."

"How did you get here?" Blaine wanted to know. "And where are you planning on staying?"

Cooper shrugged his shoulders. "I drove. It seemed cheaper than flying, even if it was a bit longer. I'll get a motel along the way unless you know of someplace where I can bunk?" Blaine shook his head. Everyone he knew had roommates.

"What's Donna going to say when she finds out you left New York?" Blaine asked, doubting that his brother had decided to consult his fiancée before driving down. Cooper shrugged.

"She won't care. She's in Europe on business for two weeks and isn't missing me," he explained.

"Don't tell me that part of the reason you came was because you were lonely." Blaine groaned when Cooper refused to answer.

"So let me see a picture of this Kurt," his older brother commanded as he began to take over the futon. "And where's your roommate?"

"Off practicing," Blaine said as he took a picture of the wall of photos he and Mike had started creating midway through the last semester. At Cooper's confused look, Blaine said, "He's a dance major."

Cooper whistled appreciatively when he saw the picture of Kurt and Blaine. "I can see why you picked him over the dance major roommate," he said.

"That and Mike has been in a steady relationship for a few years," Blaine remarked dryly. "And I don't think Tina would have appreciated it if I tried anything."

After a few moments of silence, Blaine spoke. "I really messed up big time, Coop. I don't think Kurt will ever trust me again. I wouldn't care if we never dated again but it hurts to think that he won't be my friend anymore."

"He might surprise you," Cooper said. "The way that he looks at you in that picture suggests that he might be able to forgive you, though I doubt either of you will ever forget this happened." Blaine glanced down at the picture. It had been taken shortly after the start of the spring semester, shortly after he and Kurt had started dating. Kurt had dumped a handful of snow on Blaine's curls and Blaine was glaring at him as he tried to shake it out while being laughed at.

"I think that if you're both willing to try, you can work things out. Of course, you would have to constantly prove that you're trustworthy and not lying all the time at first but if you think it would be worth it, I would say go for it. If he decides to forgive you, don't pass up the opportunity just because you think it's too much work or because you get sick of trying to prove yourself. That will only reinforce his beliefs that you can't be trusted. If you want to make things better, that's what you're going to have to do."

"It sounds easy when you say it," Blaine said with a sigh. Cooper gave a laugh that sounded remarkably bitter.

"Believe me when I say it's not," his older brother said. "You're not the only one in our family that's screwed up."

"Really?" Blaine asked. Cooper nodded.

"Did you ever hear about how Mom and Dad met?" he asked. Blaine shook his head. That was one thing he had never thought about asking. He only knew that they had met through business.

"Mom came to Dad's firm to clear up some questions on paperwork. She was a paralegal at the time and was looking for Dad's boss. Dad was using his boss's office to make a phone call and when she came in, she assumed that he was the boss. Dad didn't bother to correct her until a few months later at the company's annual Christmas party."

Blaine's mouth dropped open.

"You're kidding," he said. Cooper shook his head.

"They had a big fight and broke up until Mom found out that she was pregnant with me. They got married to avoid any gossip, though there was probably some just by how fast the wedding was planned and how soon it took place after the engagement was announced."

Well, that explained a lot about their parent's relationship.

"How did you find all of this out?" Blaine asked. He doubted that either of his parents would have willingly told Cooper. To his amazement, his brother turned a faint shade of red.

"Remember my freshman and sophomore year of college?" he asked. Blaine nodded.

"You never came home," he said. "Dad always said that you were too busy with school but I didn't know why you would be busy with school around Thanksgiving or Christmas or during the summer."

Cooper gave his younger brother a dry smile.

"It's more like I wasn't allowed home," he said. "I spent the majority of those two years at Grandma and Grandpa's, and then at Donna's when we started dating."

"You weren't allowed home?" Blaine asked. "Why not?"

"My senior year of high school, I started getting pretty crazy. I decided to party instead of study, especially once I got accepted into a few colleges. By the end of the year, some of my academic scholarships were revoked and I almost lost my place at my first choice university. Dad flipped when he found out but that was nothing compared to when some of my friends brought me home completely drunk last night. You and Mom were away for the weekend, so you wouldn't remember that fight. Eventually Dad made it clear that I had to move out as soon as I graduated and I wouldn't be allowed home for the holidays unless he or Mom invited me.

"The first year of college was hard, especially when it fully hit me that everyone else was going home for Thanksgiving but I wasn't welcome. My Thanksgiving dinner that year was toast and instant noodles. Christmas was a bit easier. Donna and I had been paired up for a project and when she realized I wasn't planning on going home, she invited me to come home with her. By the end of winter break, we were dating and she was the one that encouraged me to get in contact with Dad again. I had to do a lot of shit to prove that I had changed, though. Dad doesn't forgive easily."

"I never knew," Blaine said softly. Cooper laughed.

"That's because our family has a horrible tendency to keep silent about things that we would rather not think about. As far as Mom and Dad are concerned, what happened with me is in the past and it's best if that's never discussed again. I meant what I said over the holidays, Blaine. No one in our family lives the perfect life that you seem to think we do and you don't have to force yourself to try and live up to that expectation. If you don't like studying business, change your major and don't listen to what Mom or Dad say. Do what you want to do and don't give a shit about anyone else."

Cooper paused and amended his final statement.

"Well, maybe give a shit about Kurt," he said. "Try to make things right again, even if you'll only just be friends."


	33. The Conversation with Mike

If Mike was surprised by Cooper's sudden visit, he said nothing. He must have guessed that something was wrong with Blaine, though, because when he got back to the room, he gave Blaine a few strange looks.

Looking in the bathroom mirror, Blaine could understand why. The mess he was feeling on the inside was reflected on the outside.

At the end of the day—an extremely long day, in Blaine's opinion—he had never wanted his brother to stay more than he did then. He didn't want his brother to go to a motel, even going so far as to offer to let Cooper bunk with him and Mike, but his brother had refused to spend even one more night in a dorm room. Those days were behind him, Cooper had claimed.

As Blaine waved Cooper off, he turned to Mike with a sinking feeling. This was the moment he had been dreading, when he had to tell Mike that he and Kurt had broken up. Mike had tried to talk to him about it earlier, when Cooper had gone to get food, but Blaine had delayed the conversation by suddenly remembering an errand that he had needed to run. Now he had no such excuse.

Blaine really didn't want to talk to Mike about the break up. He had a feeling that the question about why they had broken up would come about and then he would have to explain everything.

He didn't want to lose Mike as a friend.

But he didn't see any other way this conversation could end.

"So Kurt tells me that you've broken up," Mike stated. Blaine turned to his roommate and raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked. Mike shrugged.

"He didn't want to but he had called Mercedes and Tina and then Tina called me and told me to find him and find out what happened. She was just as surprised as I was to hear the news. You two were perfect together."

Blaine grimaced. So chances were Mike already knew the reason for the break-up. Mike sat down in front of the shorter teen.

"So what happened?" he asked. "Kurt refused to say."

"It's complicated," Blaine said.

"The relationships in my high school glee club were complicated," Mike reminded him. "I'm sure I can keep up."

"You'll hate me for it," Blaine said. "It's entirely my fault and it'll affect you too." Mike shrugged.

"Don't make judgments about my reactions," he said. "I might surprise you."

With great reluctance, Blaine told Mike everything starting from day one. Throughout the conversation, he tried to read Mike's face but the other teen was unreadable.

At the end of Blaine's explanation, Mike sat back.

"Wow," he said.

"I'm sorry for lying to you," Blaine said. "I didn't mean to but then it started spiraling out of control and—"

"A relationship can't be built on lies," Mike said, cutting Blaine off. "I struggled with that when I first started dating Tina."

Hazel eyes furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"For nearly as long as I knew her before we started dating, Tina faked a stutter," Mike explained. "It helped shape the way I thought about her. Then she joined glee club and started dating Artie and lost the stutter. Suddenly I didn't know what to think. I had to completely relearn what I thought I knew about her. It was easier to handle because we weren't dating at the time when she came clean but I'll admit that when we actually began dating, I was hesitant because I kept wondering what else she could lie about or fake if she faked a stutter for all those years."

"So you aren't mad?" Blaine asked, stunned.

"I don't know what I'm feeling right now. But honestly, it explains a lot now."

Blaine looked around the room, feeling awkward. His eyes landed on a picture of Kurt and his shoulders slumped.

"Kurt hates me now," he mumbled. "And I don't blame him. I kind of hate me, too."

"I don't think he hates you," Mike said. "From what I've seen, Kurt is incapable of holding grudges. If he had any, he'd be filled with hate after all of the crap he went through at McKinley. Just give it some time. Let him process this somewhat."

"And if he never forgives me? I don't really care about getting back together but I…I need him as a friend."

"If the girls have any say in this, he'll come around," Mike stated. "Like I said earlier, Tina thought you and him were perfect together. And knowing my girlfriend, she'll come up with a plan to get you back together. That was kind of our glee club's specialty, after all—breaking up couples and getting them back together."

"I don't think that's something to be proud of," Blaine murmured, trying to crack a smile. Mike grinned.

"Probably not," he agreed. "But you try telling Tina that."


	34. The Start, Take Two

"Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Not completely, but I have it on good authority that it's considered romantic." Blaine glanced over at Mike, who shrugged. Blaine sighed.

"You called Tina, didn't you?" he asked

"Yup," Mike said with a nod.

"And she cried when you told her about this plan." It was more of a statement than a question. After the past few weeks, Blaine had gotten to know Tina a lot better. She had been helpful, even if all she could do to help was make plans and coach Blaine over the phone.

"Yup."

"Are you absolutely sure that he's not going to run off?" Blaine asked. "And just leave me there, looking like an idiot?"

"It's always a possibility but you come bearing coffee and snacks. He's been holed up in the library for most of the weekend. At this point in time, Kurt'll probably be grateful for any company and gifts of food."

"This is a bad idea," Blaine murmured. Mike rolled his eyes.

"Go," he said, pushing his roommate forward. "I'll be right here watching, just to ensure that you actually tried to talk to him instead of chickening out and coming back saying you did when you didn't." Blaine flinched at the insinuation. "Sorry," Mike muttered as soon as he realized how his comments were taken.

"Don't be," Blaine said. "I probably deserved that."

"If you want to make things right, this is your chance," Mike said. "Now stop stalling and go!"

The force behind Mike's words startled Blaine and he took a few steps forward. He glanced back at Mike before continuing the journey to the study room Kurt had sequestered himself into.

The chestnut-haired boy glanced up as he heard the door open and he stiffened when he saw Blaine standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. When Blaine flinched, he realized that his tone may have been harsher than he intended.

"I brought some food from the cafeteria and coffee from Starbucks," Blaine said quietly. "I heard from a reliable source that you haven't had anything to eat yet today."

Kurt looked around and spotted Mike standing at the end of the hall through the windows of the room. He glared in the teen's direction.

"Thanks," he said, still frowning.

"I came to apologize again," Blaine said. "I didn't mean for things to go so far."

Kurt snorted. "Sure," he said in a dismissive tone.

"I guess I just wanted you to like me, to give me a shot," Blaine admitted. "Normally I would have been fine with being myself but I wanted to impress you so badly. I have a lot of issues about impressing and pleasing people. I've spent my entire life trying to please my parents and when I was growing up, part of pleasing my parents was being able to impress and please my teachers and friends. Eventually it turned into me wanting to please and impress everyone simultaneously. I can't do that with everyone, which ends up making me feel bad about myself and in order to feel good about myself, I've learned that I'll do nearly anything, including eating things I'm semi-allergic to so that I can make myself sick. I feel worse at the beginning but once it passes, I actually feel good about myself."

Blaine paused and shook his head before setting the food and coffee down.

"Sorry, didn't mean to ramble," he said. "I really just wanted to say that I was sorry. I know you're still mad and I know that there's probably no hope of getting back together, but if there's any possibility of it happening, I'd like for us to be friends."

Glasz eyes met hazel eyes for a moment. Finally Kurt shrugged.

"We'll see," he said. Blaine nodded in understanding. He didn't expect an immediate result. He turned to leave the room but just as the door was about to shut, Kurt called his name. Blaine glanced back, eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"If you have any homework that needs finishing, feel free to join me," Kurt said. "I could use the company after being alone all weekend."

A wide grin crossed Blaine's face but he knew better than to seem to eager.

"I'll drop by in a bit," he said. "I need to print some things off first." Kurt nodded and Blaine thought he caught the flicker of a small smile on the corner of Kurt's lips. He tried not to skip or bounce down the hallway to Mike, who was waiting with a curious look on his face.

"So?" Mike asked. Blaine tried to shrug nonchalantly but the grin on his face gave everything away.

"I'm going to go back to the room, grab my backpack, print off a few things, and then we're going to study together," Blaine announced. "It's a start."


	35. The Accident

Blaine rubbed his eyes wearily. Midterms were coming up and he had probably gotten a total of four hours of sleep over the past two days combined. There was no time for sleep. He had three papers, one portfolio, a case write-up, and two exams, all due at various times throughout the week.

He didn't understand how Mike was so relaxed but he supposed that his roommate had less to study for. Mike never had much in the way of exams or papers, making Blaine very envious.

The curly-haired freshman stumbled over to the counter, looking wearily for some form of caffeine, be it soda or coffee or even the strange but wonderful caffeinated water he had discovered a few weeks ago.

There was nothing. Despite going shopping just last week, they were already out of most of what Blaine and Mike deemed to be necessities.

"Do you need anything from the store?" Blaine asked as Mike walked into the room. The taller man shook his head.

"Why are you going to the store?" he asked. "Can't you just pick up a cup of coffee from the nearest café?"

Blaine shook his head. "I still have eight pages to write before my class tomorrow morning. I'll be up all night again."

Mike frowned. "Remember that talk we had a few weeks ago? About developing better habits, especially in regards to health? I don't think going three nights without sleep is considered healthy."

"I've had sleep," Blaine protested. "Just not a lot of it. So nothing?"

"Nothing," Mike sighed. "Just drive safe."

"Of course I'll be safe," Blaine muttered. "My brother would kill me if I hurt his car."

Cooper had left his car behind after he had visited Blaine, letting his brother use it for the rest of the semester. He had chosen to fly back instead, not wanting to waste time driving after his fiancée had called and told Cooper that she had important news for him.

That reminded Blaine that he had to text his brother. He still hadn't found out what that news was. Cooper had been strangely silent since he had left but Blaine hadn't really tried reaching out to him either.

_So what was Donna's news?_

Blaine waited for the reply as he unlocked the car and got in the driver's seat. By the time he was settled, he had a text waiting for him.

_According to Donna, I'm not allowed to say anything until after the wedding._

Blaine rolled his eyes at the reply. Typical Cooper. He would have to pry the information out of his brother later. As he pulled out of the parking lot, he sent a quick text off to Kurt.

_Need anything from the store? Caffeine?_

Within seconds, his phone buzzed.

_Are midterm answers a possibility? This class is killing me._

Blaine glanced at the street before typing out a quick reply.

_What class?_

Hazel eyes blinked rapidly as Blaine tried to suppress a yawn. It was still early evening so he shouldn't be this tired. The lack of sleep was beginning to catch up to him.

_English Literature._

He had only looked away from the road for a second or two but that was enough. Without knowing it, Blaine had crossed the middle line in the road.

A loud, long honk caused Blaine to jerk his head up. Hazel eyes widened as he spotted a car coming directly toward him and his grip on the steering wheel tightened. Not having time to think, he twisted the wheel to the left to try and get out of the way.

The car swerved to avoid him but it was too late. Blaine was still on the wrong side of the road and the jerking of the wheel had led him straight into the ditch. He clenched his eyes shut and his grip on the wheel tightened even further as the car began to roll and he was thrown around.

By the time the car came to a stop, he had lost consciousness.

"—thing he was wearing a seatbelt—"

"—expect emergency surgery—"

"Any sort of—"

Blaine attempted to raise his head as his eyes fluttered open but it was restrained to something wooden. There were shadows above him that all turned toward him at his groan of pain.

"Waking up—" a voice said before others started talking over it.

"Don't move too much, son," another voice said. "You banged yourself up pretty badly. We're taking you to the hospital. Do you want us to call someone for you?"

Blaine wasn't sure how he was supposed to nod his head but he tried to do so.

"Mike…" he managed to stutter out.

"Brother? Relative? Friend?"

"Roommate," Blaine corrected. "Has numbers for everyone else. Family lives out of state."

"College student?" The voice asked. Blaine still couldn't make out anything more than shadows.

"Yes," Blaine replied.

"What hurts the most? Legs? Neck? Back? Head?"

Blaine didn't have time to respond before the black at the edges of his vision started to spread and he lost consciousness again.

Kurt frowned as he heard a loud knock on his door. It sounded frantic and he got to his feet, knowing that he was the only one still awake and his roommate wouldn't appreciate being woken up.

"Mike?" he asked upon opening the door, startled to see Mike on the other side of the door, a phone to his ear.

"We need to go to the hospital," Mike said. "I just got a call from some paramedics. Blaine's been in a car crash."

Kurt's eyes widened and he reached back to grab his apartment key and car keys that he always kept next to the door.

"What happened?" he asked, feeling a pit of dread start to form in the center of his stomach. Mike shrugged.

"They don't know yet," he said.

"How bad is it?" Kurt asked anxiously. Mike frowned.

"I can't know for sure. They called me first, instead of his parents, so he must have been somewhat conscious. But Kurt…they're taking him in for emergency surgery. If that's happening, it must be bad."


	36. Meeting the Parents

Kurt tapped his foot against the cheap tile of the hospital's waiting room, unable to sit still. They had gotten to the hospital around six o'clock in the evening and Mike had gotten through to Blaine's parents and brother within the following half hour. While they were in a frantic rush to make flight arrangements to get to Virginia, Kurt had used to time to call in sick for his midterm in the morning. There was no point in going. If he would go, he would probably fail because he would be unable to concentrate.

While they were waiting for more news—all they were told was that Blaine's condition was critical but stable—the pit of dread in Kurt's stomach grew. He hoped that there would be good news but the atmosphere in the hospital made that hope seem bleak.

Around seven o'clock, Mike had gotten a call from Blaine's parents saying that they had found a flight that would be leaving within the hour and landing around midnight. Minutes after hanging up, Blaine's brother had called, giving Mike his flight details.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" Mike asked. Kurt shook his head.

"Someone should wait for news," he said softly. "We could hear something at any minute."

"Text me if you hear anything," Mike said. His eyes narrowed when Kurt began immediately shaking his head.

"I'll call," the other man said. "You shouldn't text and drive. We don't need another accident." Kurt didn't know why but he couldn't shake the feeling that Blaine's accident had something to do with the last text he had sent. He had never received a reply—something very unlike Blaine—and it hadn't been but thirty minutes later when Mike had shown up at his door.

"Good luck," Kurt murmured. He didn't think he could be around Blaine's parents right now. He had never done well around overbearing parents that pressured their kids into doing things they hated and from what Blaine had told him, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson seemed to be perfect examples of such parents.

As Kurt waited, he stared blankly at the clock on the wall, watching the seconds and minutes tick by. After about fifteen minutes, he was debating about if he should have gone with Mike instead. Mike's presence had been calming and without his old friend, he was much more anxious. As the clock hit the hour mark, Kurt got to his feet and approached the front desk, like he had done every single hour since arriving.

"Is there any news on a Blaine Anderson?" he asked, not expecting much. A few doctors and nurses had come and gone but they hadn't stayed for long. The receptionist scanned through her computer.

"He's out of surgery," she said. Kurt's heart leapt at the news. "They'll be monitoring him now."

"Is he going to make it?" Kurt asked. The receptionist gave him a sympathetic smile.

"There's no word yet," she said. "A doctor will come out once they know more." Kurt nodded in understanding, though he was growing frustrated with the lack of information. As he walked away, he pulled out his phone and had a brief conversation with Mike, who was nearly at the airport.

Out of surgery was a good thing, wasn't it? Kurt hoped so. He didn't want to lose Blaine. Blaine was one of the closest friends he had.

As much as Kurt hated to admit it, that hadn't changed once he had learned the truth about Blaine. He had hated being lied to and he had been angry and confused, but he had still considered Blaine his friend. Despite everything, Blaine had still been his friend.

It was a little after one in the morning when Mike returned. Kurt's eyes furrowed in confusion as he entered the waiting room alone.

"Did they get in okay?" Kurt asked. Mike nodded.

"They should be in in a few minutes," he said. "Once they've worked everything out."

"Worked everything out?"

Mike hesitated before speaking, like he wasn't sure if he should say anything. "Blaine's brother decided to tell them everything," he said. "They've been arguing since then."

Kurt glanced toward the door nervously.

"Everything?" he asked.

"Maybe not everything," Mike admitted. "I didn't hear anything about Blaine and you. It was mostly about Blaine's eating habits and how he hates his classes and how Blaine was making himself miserable over trying to achieve this fantasy life that they've created for him. Then there were some accusations made and now it's a full blown argument."

Kurt's eyes narrowed again and he stood up. He wasn't going to stand for the Anderson family arguing while they weren't even sure what condition Blaine was in. Blaine shouldn't have to wake up and be immediately caught up in something like this.

"Are they just outside?" he asked. Mike glanced at Kurt nervously, recognizing that mixed tone of calmness and anger. He nodded.

"Go easy on them," he said. "Remember that they've never dealt with you before."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'll be relatively nice. I still have to make a good impression on them, after all."

Kurt strolled out of the hospital, ignoring the chilly night air. At least Blaine's family had the sense to keep the arguing outside to avoid creating a spectacle. As he approached the trio, he cleared his throat loudly. The two that seemed to be doing the most arguing were the ones Kurt assumed to be Blaine's father and brother.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson?" he asked. "And Cooper?"

"Kurt?" Cooper asked, seeming to recognize him. "How's—"

"There's been no news yet, other than he's out of surgery," Kurt explained. He hesitated, wondering how he could subtly tell off this family, but before he could say anything, Blaine's mother cut him off.

"That's good, isn't it, though?" she asked.

"They're still monitoring him," Kurt pointed out. "There's been no definite word from the doctors or nurses yet. However, I have a feeling that you'll be allowed to see him by the morning but the doctors may not allow that if they feel that you'll stress him out and aggravate any conditions he might have currently."

"Stress him out?" Mrs. Anderson fussed. Kurt gave a pointed look toward her husband and eldest son. Mrs. Anderson sighed as she caught the look. "Right," she said. "Are you a friend of Blaine's? Is there any truth to what Cooper's been saying?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't know exactly what he's been saying but I know Blaine's been struggling in classes because he doesn't enjoy them. He knows he isn't doing well and that stresses him out, which makes him struggle even more in classes. He just wants to please you but everything he tries to do just makes him more miserable."

The Andersons frowned at Kurt's comments. "Of course, that's only my thoughts," Kurt said. "But Blaine should tell you himself. He might be able to make you understand better than I can but it should be in a relaxed environment. He shouldn't be surrounded by people arguing over him."

Before any of Blaine's family could say anything, Mike called out the door to them. He was gesturing to a doctor standing nearby. It seemed like they were finally getting word about Blaine's condition.


	37. Waking Up

When Blaine opened his eyes, he was struck by the feeling of blankness that he felt. It wasn't just the absence of pain. It was like he couldn't feel at all. Not pain, not his body, not any type of emotion. There was just….blankness.

"Blaine?"

Blaine turned his hand and hazel eyes widened when he spotted his mother sitting beside him.

"Mom?" he asked and winced when his voice cracked. His mother gave him a wavering smile.

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Fine," Blaine said. "What are you doing here?"

"Your roommate called us and said that you'd been in a car crash. We came as soon as we could. We've been here since midnight."

"What time is it now?" Blaine asked. There was no sunlight streaming into the room but he didn't know if that was because it was still dark out or because the curtains were closed.

"Around four in the morning."

"Did Dad come?" Blaine asked. Looking around the room, he quickly realized that it was just him and his mother. His mother nodded.

"He and Cooper went to go find something to drink and have a talk," she said. Blaine frowned.

"You mean argue," he stated dully.

"No, I mean talk," his mother stated firmly. "They've done all of their arguing already. Your friend Kurt made it very clear that they shouldn't be around you if they were fighting."

"Kurt's here?" Blaine's eyes widened. He hadn't really expected that, but to be honest, he wasn't surprised.

"With your roommate. They've been here ever since they got word of your accident. What happened, Blaine? Normally you're so careful driving."

"I was tired," Blaine said. "Must've fallen asleep at the wheel." His mother frowned at the explanation but Blaine wasn't about to tell her the real reason. He didn't need nor want the lecture about the dangers of texting and driving.

"The nurses said that they'll be by with breakfast around seven but if you don't like it, I'm sure I could convince your brother to sneak something in for you." Blaine smiled at that.

"I guess this means I won't be going to class," he remarked. "So much for midterms."

His mother frowned at the comments and Blaine wondered if she was going to suggest that he try anyways. He knew that she wouldn't like him just giving up on his classes like that.

"Your brother and friends have been telling us some things," she said. "Are you really as miserable as they say you are?"

Hazel eyes stared at her in surprise.

"What?" he asked, not sure if he had understood.

"Are you happy?" his mother asked bluntly.

Blaine thought for a moment. He didn't need to think about his answer but he wondered if he was ready to tell his parents that he didn't want what they wanted for him.

"No," he admitted after a few seconds. "I hate my classes. I hate business in general. I was only studying it because that's what you and Dad expected me to do."

"We just wanted you to be successful," his mother said sadly. "We didn't realize that we were putting so much pressure on you."

"I'm not even twenty yet," Blaine informed his mother. "I'm not even legally allowed to drink. Why do I have to have my life planned out already?" His mother didn't respond. Instead she gazed at him as if seeing him for the first time.

"I'll talk to your father," she said. "But I'll do my best to support you from now on. I just want what's best for you."

"I know," Blaine said. "But you need to realize that sometimes I know what's best for me more than you do." It was surreal having this discussion with his mother. Blaine had tried to imagine all the different ways it would go but this scenario had never made it into those imaginations.

Blaine's mother gave a soft smile before stifling a yawn behind her hand. Blaine sighed as he looked at the clock.

"I suppose it's too early for visiting hours or to call my professors?" he asked mildly. He didn't really care about the answer but he needed something to change the topic away from the heaviness of the previous conversation.

"I'm sure your friends will be in as soon as they're allowed," his mother said. "And don't worry about your professors. Your father and I will talk to the school."

"Why the school?" Blaine wondered. "I'm sure I could work out times to turn everything in and to retake my finals. This probably counts as an excused absence."

"The doctors don't think you'll be ready to leave the hospital for another week," his mother stated. "There was some internal bleeding and broken ribs that nearly punctured your lung. They're still not convinced that everything's completely stable. To give you some time to heal, it might be best to pull you out for the semester."

Blaine's eyes widened. He hadn't realized things were that serious. He was still under that haze of feeling nothing but blankness.

"But we already paid tuition," he protested. "I don't want you and Dad to waste all that money."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie." His mother ran a hand through Blaine's curls. "Besides, if you're that miserable with your current classes, you would just suffer through finishing them up. I'm sure we can work something out with the school."

Blaine would have protested more but a yawn cut him off. His mother glanced at him knowingly.

"Go back to sleep," she said. "We'll talk more later. You need to rest now."


	38. The End

"Don't do anything too strenuous and don't let your friends talk you into doing anything stupid. I've met them, remember? I know what they're like."

Blaine stared at Kurt wryly.

"I'll be fine," he said. "With my ribs being as sore as they are and with most of one leg in a cast, I doubt I'll be moving too much from my bed. I can bet that the most exciting and nerve wracking thing that will be happening will be hobbling from my bed to the bathroom during commercial breaks and making it back in time for the shows to resume."

Kurt grinned down at Blaine.

"You'll call and text?" he asked. Blaine nodded, curls flopping around his ears.

"You'll probably be one of the few things that keeps me sane," he said. "I'll probably have cabin fever by the end of the week." Kurt frowned at the admission.

"You'll be coming back in the fall?" he asked.

"Of course," Blaine said. "I'd be crazy not to come back. But I expect visits from you and Mike."

"Along with Tina and some of the others," Kurt muttered. "Especially now that they know that you live in Ohio and not Chicago."

Blaine's cheeks reddened.

"Once again, I'm sorry," he apologized, like he did every other time someone brought up that nightmare of a situation. Kurt laughed.

"It's okay," he said. "Everyone forgave you, especially when Mike and I pointed out that they did crazier things."

"I still can't believe  _you_  forgave me," Blaine muttered. Kurt shrugged.

"I'll try and visit as soon as I go back to Lima," he promised instead. "We can try and make this long-distance thing work."

"Long-distance?" Blaine inquired, looking up suddenly. Kurt's cheeks flamed red as he realized his mistake.

"I messed that up, didn't I?" he asked.

"Were you going to ask what I think you were going to ask?" Blaine wanted to know, his heart beginning to race furiously.

"Only if you want to. I don't want to pressure you or anything. It's more of a suggestion really. One that I'm hoping you'll agree to."

"Yes!" Blaine practically shouted. When his parents glanced over at him from their position by the car, Blaine quieted his voice. "Of course." Kurt gave him a relieved smile before reaching a hand out to balance Blaine, who was trying to dig in the bag hanging off of his crutch.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I figured that now that we're dating again, I don't need to feel awkward giving you this," Blaine said, pulling out a silvery object from his bag. Kurt stared at it.

"Is this a duct tape rose?" he asked. Blaine's cheeks reddened.

"I was bored while in the hospital and this was all Cooper had that was sort of useful in keeping me occupied," he explained.

"I can't tell if this is super cheesy or just really romantic," Kurt stated, looking over the silver rose.

"Go with really romantic. Always go with really romantic." Kurt and Blaine shared a laugh before Blaine's father began calling his name.

"Go home and get better," Kurt said. "We need you to come back healthy so you can hopefully enjoy your classes for once now that they aren't all business related."

Blaine grinned. "I'll talk to you later," he said before hobbling over to meet his parents.

"Ready to go home?" Blaine's mother asked. Blaine nodded.

"And where is home again?" Cooper asked from his spot in the backseat. "Dad is insisting on going to Ohio but I could have sworn it was Chicago." Blaine glared at his older brother.

"Oh, shut up," he grumbled. "No one asked you."


End file.
